Only You
by punklau
Summary: Married with children, Punk and AJ are enjoying the peaceful and quiet life together until old skeletons start to unlock themselves from the closets.
1. Chapter 1

**Mad House**

* * *

"I wanna watch Mary Poppins." Marty whispered as Punk opened an eye, lying in bed. He could see due to the fact there was no light coming through the curtains that it was still super early, but that was normal for Marty.

"Go back to sleep." Punk whispered as Marty shook her head, "Mhm." He mumbled tiredly, "Daddy will watch Mary Poppins with you later." He nodded.

"Can't we watch it now?" Marty questioned as Punk took his phone from the nightstand and looked at the time. 5.20am.

"Aren't you tired?" Punk asked her.

"No." Marty shrugged.

"Hey, what's going on?" AJ turned around, noticing Marty by Punk's side of the bed, sitting up and switching the lamp on beside her.

"Mommy I wanna watch Mary Poppins." Marty nodded as Punk turned to AJ.

"You do?" AJ asked as Marty nodded, "Ok… Ok." AJ said, "I'll uh… I'll come watch it with you." She nodded as Punk watched her get out of bed.

"You're insane." Punk whispered as AJ nodded.

"Mhm." AJ agreed, walking into the bathroom first whilst Marty waited, standing by Punk's bed side as he watched her.

"Why Mary Poppins?" He asked curiously as Marty looked at him.

"Why not?" Marty challenged as Punk nodded. She was a very blunt little girl. Her one-liners at times sent Punk and AJ over the edge, whilst Kaia was very into talking a lot.

"Ok, baby. Let's go." AJ nodded, grabbing her sweater and putting it on as Marty skipped over to her, "Mommy's gonna need a double shot this morning." AJ nodded to herself as Punk smiled, turning over in bed and closing his eyes back over.

"Why wouldn't daddy get up?" Marty asked, walking down the stairs with AJ, holding her hand.

"Daddy's really tired. He's been working a whole lot lately." AJ explained as Marty nodded, pretending to understand and listen.

"Can I feed Bruno?" She asked AJ who nodded.

"Yeah, although… he's probably still sleeping." AJ admitted as Marty ran through to the kitchen, pausing with a frown as she saw their dog still asleep in his bed.

"Oh." Marty frowned, "Well we shouldn't wake him." She nodded.

"He'll probably wake up once he hears us more." AJ told her, "You want some breakfast?" She asked as Marty sat at the kitchen table and nodded. The noise of the kitchen chair scraping back on the floor woke Bruno immediately where he got out of bed and stretched.

"Bruno!" Marty smiled happily, jumping off the chair and hugging her dog tightly as AJ smiled, "Come on, Bruno. Let's get your breakfast." She said, opening up the cupboard where the dog's food was stored. She was designated dog feeder in the mornings.

"Cereal, baby?" AJ asked her.

"Yeah." Marty nodded, shaking some of the dog food into Bruno's bowl as AJ smiled. Sometimes it was surreal to think at a time in their lives, they just lived alone with Bruno. It felt like such a long time ago, and she couldn't really remember the feeling of not being a mom. She loved both her babies dearly and their family felt complete with them.

Meanwhile upstairs, Kaia being the light sleeper she was, woke up once she heard people downstairs. She left her room and ran to her parents room, seeing her father asleep in bed and jumping up on it.

"Who is downstairs?" Kaia asked, lying down beside Punk who opened his eyes.

"I should get a do not disturb sign for the door." Punk groaned, lying on his stomach, "Mom and Marty are downstairs." Punk told her.

"Why are you still sleeping?" Kaia asked, not understanding. As children, they thought their parents should always be awake at all times to help them with anything they needed.

"I'm tired." Punk said, burying his face into the pillow.

"And grumpy." Kaia said with sass, "Mommy says you get grumpy because of your job." She said, "So maybe you should leave." She shrugged as Punk looked at her. He loved being a father for every aspect of it, but the most entertaining thing was seeing how his children's minds worked, how oblivious they were to certain things and how simple they made life seem. He loved that.

"I leave work and you're wearing the same pants every week to school." Punk explained.

"Sometimes I do that." Kaia admitted as Punk smiled.

"I'm fine. I'm just extra tired." Punk nodded. He'd been working non-stop on a case that they finally closed last night and his exhaustion was really hitting him all at once.

"Oh. Ok." Kaia nodded, "Well I'm going to get breakfast." She told him, sitting up on the bed as he nodded, "Is mommy working today?"

"No mommy's off." Punk said, falling back asleep as Kaia got off the bed and ran off out of the bedroom and downstairs.

She ran around the corner and into the kitchen where AJ and Marty were having breakfast.

"Hi, baby." AJ smiled as Kaia walked through, "You're up early."

"I heard you." Kaia told them, "Mostly Marty." She turned to her sister who was too busy eating her cereal.

"You want some breakfast?" AJ asked her as Kaia nodded, sitting up at the table whilst AJ got her some cereal. She was having an extra strong coffee which had become a pretty regular thing after having children. She knew it wasn't good for her but it certainly helped.

"We're watching Mary Poppins." Marty told her sister, acknowledging her a little as Kaia took the cereal from her mother.

AJ adored breakfast time. The girls still with their pyjamas on with the fuzziest, messiest hair was always amusing to her and Punk.

"I like that movie." Kaia nodded, "Daddy is still sleeping." She informed everyone.

"We know." Marty told her.

AJ normally just let them chat to one another at breakfast whilst she zoned out and enjoyed her coffee. She was lucky that she got to spend a few days a week with the girls after cutting her shifts at the hospital down. It was becoming too much for her and it meant Nadine wasn't always watching the girls, although Kaia going to school did help them out a lot. Regardless, it was a mad house at all times.

* * *

Punk eventually woke up and had a shower. He was so grateful that he had such an understanding wife, and they both took care of each other. Whenever AJ had a hard shift at the hospital he always sorted the kids out and vice versa, they had a very casual outlook on parenting and it certainly worked for them.

He headed downstairs and walked into the living room where he saw AJ lying fast asleep on the couch with Marty on top of her who was also fast asleep. Meanwhile Kaia was across on the other couch playing on her Nintendo switch with her headphones on, Bruno lying beside her.

He smiled to himself as Kaia looked up and noticed him, taking her headphones off which she and Punk shared.

"They fell asleep." Kaia rolled her eyes as Punk nodded.

"I can see that." Punk laughed a little, "What you doing?" He asked her.

"Playing on my switch." Kaia told him, "Marty picked Mary Poppins but then said she didn't like it." She shook her head as Punk smiled. Marty definitely kept them all on their toes that was for sure.

"I guess it bored her to sleep." Punk nodded, walking over and sitting down beside Kaia who nodded, "You get any homework for over the weekend?"

"No." Kaia shook her head casually as Punk looked at her, "I don't." She insisted as Punk folded his arms and looked at her again, "A little bit of spelling." She nodded, "But I can… I'll do it on Monday morning." She waved her hand, about to put the headphones back on as he stopped her in the progress.

"What about doing it now?" Punk suggested as Kaia looked at him with horror. She definitely struggled a little with going to school. She wasn't a fan of leaving her home and the place she was used to, and she really didn't enjoy paying attention to much either, but AJ and Punk knew it would pass.

"Later?" Kaia wondered.

"Or now?" Punk nodded as Kaia folded her arms.

"Then Marty should do homework too." Kaia huffed.

"Marty doesn't go to school." Punk laughed a little, "Don't worry, her time will come to do homework too."

"Should come sooner." Kaia mumbled.

"Why don't we do it together?" Punk asked her as Kaia shrugged, "Come on. Let's go." He said, getting up from the couch and heading into the kitchen where Kaia unpacked her bookbag which sat in the cupboard beside the fridge.

"I just have a little spelling and some reading." Kaia said, tossing her things over onto the table carelessly as Punk watched, "Some sums too." She remembered.

"You told me you just had a little spelling." Punk arched a brow.

"I lied." Kaia said casually as Punk nodded, "Sit." She told him, sitting up at the kitchen table whilst Punk sat across from her. Things like this were never a chore for him. He enjoyed being present in his daughter's lives and helping them in any way he could.

* * *

Later that night, the girls had gone into the living room after dinner to watch their before bed programmes whilst AJ and Punk stayed in the kitchen.

"Did you have a nice day off?" AJ asked, "Relaxing?"

"Yeah. Finally that case is out of my head." Punk nodded. From time to time he got set on really challenging cases which were incredibly hard to shift from his mind. AJ knew this and always worried that it would get too much.

"You shouldn't be under so much stress, Phil. I hate it." AJ shook her head.

"I know, I do too." Punk said, "But you know it never lasts." He reminded her, "Hey if I didn't take these cases, I never would have got with you-"

"I'm sure we would have found our way to each other somehow." AJ smiled as Punk nodded, "You did get Kaia to do her homework today, that was impressive. You gotta teach me." She nodded as he smiled.

"She's really smart, you know." Punk said, "Got almost all her spelling right. And her sums." He nodded.

"She came from me, of course she's smart." AJ nodded as Punk smiled, "You spoke to Seth since he got back from the honeymoon?"

"No, well… he only got back like two days ago and I thought I'd give him some space." He said as AJ nodded, "We'll see him at the Halloween party."

"We don't have to go to that, do we?" AJ rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, it's tradition." Punk said, "Come on, I love Halloween."

"So do I but the girls will wanna go trick or treating." AJ said.

"Yeah, we'll take them early and then head to the party." Punk said, "Tony really goes all out."

"I know he does, and it's always a fun time." AJ agreed, "What will I dress up as?" AJ wondered.

"How about a nun?" Punk nodded, "Well… a slutty nun." He shrugged as AJ turned to him.

"You just love this party because I get to put on something cute and distract you." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, well duh." Punk laughed.

"You should go as a cowboy." AJ nodded, "But only if you wear assless chaps." She said as Punk laughed to himself, "And then…" She leaned down, wrapping her arms around his neck, "You can tie me up and take me for a ride." She smirked as Punk nodded.

"Sounds like something I'd be interested in." Punk nodded.

"I bet." AJ laughed, "Seriously I'll need to look for a costume." She nodded.

"Why don't we go as Batman and Robin?" Punk asked her, "Oh, no… wait, Morticia and Gomez."

"Oh, that's a good one." AJ nodded, impressed, "Oh and the girls can go as Wednesday and… I don't know, the uncle." She shrugged as Punk laughed, "I'd look good as Morticia."

"Yeah, you would." Punk nodded immediately, "She was my childhood crush."

"Really?" AJ nodded, "You were a weird kid." She said as Punk nodded, "Let me think about other costumes and I'll get back to you." She nodded, "Morticia and Gomez is on the table, though." She nodded.

"Oh, I'm sure we will be." Punk nodded as AJ smiled to him over her shoulder.

* * *

**A/N: Lots to come. Hope you'll enjoy. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Halloween

**Halloween**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, got mixed up with the files on the doc manager. Here is chapter 2!**

* * *

"You two look… interesting." Punk tilted his head, looking on at his children standing at the door in their house on Halloween, "Are you dressed up as me?" Punk asked, looking on at Marty.

"Daddy, I'm Judy Hopps from Zootopia." Marty told him, "I took your bracelets, see." She pulled out Punk's handcuffs.

"Uh… no, let's not take them." Punk took them from her as Marty huffed, "We don't touch these." He reminded them both.

"I told her." Kaia nodded.

"And who are you?" Punk asked, looking at Kaia. AJ had taken control of the costumes this year.

"I'm cat in the hat obviously." Kaia said.

"Ahh, I see." Punk nodded, "Well these are pretty good costumes." He said. He took Halloween very seriously of course.

"Where is your costume?" Kaia asked.

"I'm in it." Punk nodded as Marty looked him up and down.

"What are you?" Marty questioned with confusion. He was dressed in a suit with a hat.

"I'm Clyde." Punk said.

"Who?" Marty questioned.

"Clyde the dog? From our TV show?" Kaia gasped.

"What part of this screams dog to you?" Punk asked them, "No, Clyde from… Bonnie and Clyde." He said as they both stared at him, "You know… killed thirteen people, robbed all those banks during the great depression…" He paused as he realised his children were three and five years old.

"He doesn't sound like a nice man." Kaia observed.

"I'll arrest you, Clyde!" Marty exclaimed, taking out her toy gun and pointing at him, "Hands behind your back!" She jumped up and down excitedly, "Is that what you say?" She wondered.

"It's on your head but… pretty good." He nodded to her as she smiled.

"Well what's mommy dressing up as?" Kaia questioned.

"Bonnie." Punk said.

"Oh were Bonnie and Clyde married?" Kaia asked.

"I'm not sure actually." Punk said as AJ walked down the stairs. She got her hands on the costume and loved it. She had a short blonde wig with a hat, as well as the fitting neck scarf and yellow jumper from the classic movie.

"Hey, you ready to go rob some banks, baby?" AJ smiled, wrapping her arms around Punk's neck, taking his hat off and giving him a kiss.

"Might be a little hard with Judy Hopps standing by." Punk nodded to Marty who was staring at them.

"That's true." AJ laughed to herself, "You guys look good." She smiled as they nodded.

"Can we hurry up and go trick or treating?" Kaia asked them as they nodded.

"Yeah but I need a picture of you both first." AJ said, heading through to the kitchen for her phone as they both huffed and rolled their eyes.

"And then we're going to the party." Punk reminded them.

"I love to party." Kaia jumped up and down.

"I don't." Marty shook her head as Punk laughed and nodded.

"Ok, picture time." AJ said, walking back into the hallway, "Ok, a smile would be good Marty." AJ nodded to her youngest daughter who pushed out a fake smile whilst AJ took a lot of pictures of them before they headed out.

* * *

Once trick or treating was done with, AJ and Punk headed to the party that Tony held every year in his huge house. It was pretty much the entire police station with other people. Seth was always invited too.

"This wig is itchy." AJ admitted, walking into the house with the girls by their side.

"You look good as a blonde." Punk smirked.

"Oh, yeah?" AJ asked, "So this is staying on for the rest of the night?" She wondered as he smirked and nodded.

"Hey, you made it." Tony appeared, "Oh, what do we have here? Did you dress up as your dad?" Tony crouched down to Marty and Kaia.

"Judy Hopps!" Marty exclaimed.

"Uh… is that someone we work with?" Tony looked up at Punk who shook his head.

"She's a cool bunny misses police woman." Marty explained.

"And I'm cat in the hat." Kaia said.

"Yeah, I like the hat." Tony nodded, "And what are your mom and dad?" Tony looked up.

"Bonnie and Clyde." Kaia answered, "They kill people and steal money." She nodded as Tony raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly.

"How does she know that?" AJ whispered to Punk.

"I… might have told them." Punk realised as AJ shook her head.

"Well hey, here is some candy." Tony reached over to the side table, "You guys get extra because your dad is my best worker."

"Oh." Kaia smiled excitedly, "Thank you." She nodded, taking the candy.

"Yeah, thanks." Marty added as Tony smiled.

"There's some other kids playing in the sitting room if you wanna go. They got some games." Tony said.

"Yeah, let's go!" Kaia exclaimed, grabbing her sister by the wrist and running off with her as AJ smiled.

"Oh, remember when we brought Marty when she was a baby and she was a pumpkin?" AJ frowned, turning to Punk, "They're so grown up." She sighed to herself.

"Nah, they're still babies." Punk assured her.

"Nice costumes." Tony nodded to them, "Ironic." He looked at Punk.

"Thought I'd be one of the bad guys for a change." Punk said, "What are you supposed to be?" He asked with confusion.

"I'm a caveman obviously." Tony scoffed.

"Cavemen wore jeans?" AJ questioned with confusion.

"Bonnie had the cat in the hat as a daughter?" Tony asked as AJ rolled her eyes, "Well come in, have fun, Seth and Becky are over… somewhere." He looked around the house as AJ and Punk smiled and nodded.

"A caveman?" AJ shook her head, turning to Punk once Tony disappeared.

"Apparently." Punk nodded, walking through the house to find Seth who they saw with his new wife. They appeared to be dressed up as two of the mutant ninja turtles which made Punk and AJ chuckled.

"Hey." Seth spotted them, "Who… what the hell are you guys meant to be?" He laughed, embracing them both whilst Becky did the same.

"We're Bonnie and Clyde." AJ said, adjusting her hat and taking out her toy gun.

"Oh." Seth nodded, "I see. Nice." He nodded.

"You look good as a blonde." Becky nodded.

"I think so too." Punk added as AJ smiled, "So how was the honeymoon?" He asked them.

They were both thrilled when Seth told them he and Becky, his long-term girlfriend were finally getting married after years of dating. The wedding was beautiful and it helped that both Punk and AJ got on so well with Becky. She had a beautiful personality and was so easy to get along with.

"It was amazing." Becky said as Seth nodded to Punk with raised his eyebrows. Punk nodded, knowing exactly what he was saying without having to hear the words, a private brother moment, "Are the girls here?" Becky asked them.

"Yeah, they wandered off to go play." AJ nodded, "Uh… Kaia is cat in the hat and Marty is Judy Hopps." AJ smiled.

"Oh, how sweet." Becky smiled.

"Marty is obsessed with that bunny." Seth chuckled to himself.

"I took pictures." AJ said, showing Becky the many pictures she'd taken whilst Seth and Punk wandered off to the kitchen for drinks.

"So it was good?" Punk smiled.

"Yeah, it was amazing." Seth nodded, "Didn't want to come home." He admitted.

"Weird when it's all over and done with, right?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, it's still hard to believe. Keep having to remind myself I'm married now." He laughed a little as Punk smiled, "You spoke to mom recently?"

"Well last was Friday when I picked Marty up. I don't know, she's been really quiet recently." Punk nodded, "Like something is on her mind."

"Really?" Seth asked, "I haven't noticed."

"Yeah. April was gonna take her out for coffee the other week but Kaia got sick and she had to stay at home with her." Punk said.

"What you think she's depressed or something?" Seth asked.

"Maybe, I don't know. She just seems different. Quieter." Punk nodded, "The other day I asked her if she wouldn't mind babysitting the girls for a night so me and Ape could have a night off somewhere." He said, "She looked like she wanted to say no." He admitted.

"Maybe it's getting too much for her. I know the girls are angels and they're barely hard work to take care of but… she isn't young anymore." Seth said.

"Yeah, I guess… it just seems like lately she's been distancing herself. Gotta be something on her mind. I know her." Punk said.

"Well hey, maybe we talk to her and check in, see if she's doing ok. She's too proud to tell us so we gotta get it out of her." Seth nodded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed, "Nice turtle costume, by the way." He nodded, "Remember we used to watch them on a Saturday morning? It was like a shitty cartoon version?" Punk asked.

"You're a lot older than me, buddy." Seth reminded him as Punk just shrugged, "Was Becky's idea. She loves all the movies."

"I love it." Punk smiled, suddenly hearing a loud bang, multiple loud bangs followed by glass shattering. He was a police officer and certain noises he knew exactly what they were and he knew that it was a gun being fired.

He immediately ran into large lounge to find AJ, "Hey… hey, you ok?" Punk pulled AJ into him.

"Where are the girls?" AJ asked whilst Seth got Becky. Just as Punk was about to rush to find the girls, there were more gun shots firing through the windows.

"Ok, get down." Punk pulled AJ down with him, crouching behind a table whilst Seth and Becky did the same.

"Everybody stay down!" Tony exclaimed.

"Phil, the girls." AJ cried, trying to stand up as Punk kept her down.

"You stay down." Punk warned her, "I'll go." He said, standing up straight, nodding to Tony who had already called the cops, ironically, at the station. Halloween was always a mischievous night for them as cops, but it was never something this personal and dangerous.

Punk made his way into the next lounge room where he saw Marty and Kaia sitting in the corner of the room. He put his hand out and told them to stay where they were. He didn't want them to run out and expose themselves in front of any potential danger.

"What the fuck is this?" Dean appeared behind Punk, "I fucking hate Halloween." He grumbled as Punk nodded.

"I don't think this is a Halloween thing. It seems a bit personal." Punk shook his head, walking out of the house and looking around the street whilst Tony and some other cops checked the back of the house and around the sides.

"That was a lot of fucking bullets." Dean nodded as they walked back into the house.

"Is everyone ok?" Punk called out to everyone who mostly were hiding behind and under things. It was never a nice sight to see. The windows were all broken with glass everywhere, "Anyone hurt?" Punk asked as everyone stood up whilst Tony appeared again.

"All clear out the back." Tony nodded, "The hell is going on? That was five gun shots. Could have been five people dead."

"Always a glass half empty." Dean scoffed.

"He is right." Punk nodded, "There's kids in here." Punk shook his head, walking past them and into the lounge where Marty and Kaia were.

"Daddy what's happening?" Kaia asked as Punk picked them both up and wandered back into the main lounge where AJ was waiting.

"Just a little accident." Punk told them, kissing them both on the cheek as he walked over to AJ who placed her hand on her heart with relief.

"My babies." AJ sighed as Punk put them down where AJ crouched down and squeezed them both, cupping the back of their heads as he sighed to himself.

"The hell is going on?" Seth walked over with Becky whilst AJ stayed crouched down, hugging the girls tightly.

"I have no idea." Punk shook his head.


	3. Found

**Found**

* * *

"What the hell was that tonight?" AJ shook her head, closing Kaia's bedroom door over after they had put the girls to sleep, finding Punk pacing in the hallway.

"I have no idea. That shit doesn't just happen for no reason." Punk said, "Although some clown at this day and age could find a party full of people and think it would be fun to-"

"Kill them?" AJ shook her head.

"Well, the world is a shit show right now." Punk nodded, "Lucky no one got hurt. That was a lot of bullets." He said as AJ nodded, walking into their bedroom, "Are you ok?" He asked her.

"Yeah, yeah I'm just shocked." AJ sighed to herself, sitting down on the edge of the bed as Punk joined her, "How can you be so calm in those situations?" She asked him. She watched him tonight, how calm he was in such terrifying situations. She felt lucky to have him as her safety net.

"I'm just… I'm used to stuff like that." Punk shrugged, "I guess I just know what to do. I've been doing it for so long." He nodded as AJ sighed.

"I was so scared for the girls. I couldn't even see them." AJ shook her head.

"I know." Punk nodded, "We'll try find whoever it was." He said as AJ nodded.

"You think it was someone on foot?" AJ wondered. She couldn't think why anyone would want to cause so much potential danger to strangers in a party, especially with children around. It was terrifying.

"Probably." Punk nodded, "Halloween is a terrible night for cops. It's why I always refused to work it. I always took Christmas instead."

"Christmas? That's busy?" AJ shook her head.

"Uh… yeah, a lot of… a lot of people commit suicide on Christmas." He nodded to her, "Or… a lot phone in planning to. It's the loneliest time of the year for some people." He said as AJ sighed to herself.

"I never even thought about Christmas like that." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, it's not great. New Years Eve and day is pretty much the same." Punk said, "Whereas Halloween allows a lot of people to disguise themselves, which doesn't help, and there's so many people out on the streets too."

"I don't envy your job at all." AJ shook her head, "You must see a lot of horrible things." She sighed as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, at times." Punk said, "But then I get to come home to my beautiful wife and my amazing kids." He smiled to her, "And everything feels a little better." He nodded as she smiled.

"There's a sentence I bet you wouldn't think you'd ever say."

"I know." Punk laughed, "You really helped me grow up." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"No, you did that on your own." AJ smiled, "I don't think the girls were too phased by tonight. Didn't really know what was going on." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I just told them it was an accident." He said, "You did good with their costumes." He smiled.

"You think?" AJ smiled.

"Yeah, Kaia's was great. And Marty looked… like me." He nodded, "You know she stole my handcuffs?"

"She did?" AJ questioned.

"Mhm, well she called them bracelets." Punk laughed to himself as AJ smiled.

"It's so crazy that they're growing up. I still think of them as babies." She nodded, "Felt like yesterday that Marty was just a baby and Kaia was two." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, time is ticking by." Punk agreed, "Sometimes I liked it better when they didn't know how to talk." He admitted as AJ smiled, "They get their sass from you."

"I'm proud of that." AJ smiled as Punk nodded, "I guess you'll have a pretty big day ahead of you tomorrow."

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "We'll probably have to talk to everyone who was at the party and then do some surveying of the area, see if anyone spotted anything." He said as AJ nodded.

"You don't think it was anything personal, do you?" AJ wondered worriedly.

"I honestly don't know. Given it's Halloween, it might just be some lunatic. There's plenty of them out there."

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "Last time I heard a gunshot so close was… Norman. 7 years ago." AJ nodded to herself.

"That long, huh?" Punk raised his eyebrows as AJ nodded, "You still think about it?" He asked her.

"Not as much as I used to but… I mean it'll never leave me." She said.

"Me neither." Punk agreed, "Still one of the worst cases I've ever came across." He nodded, "Graphically." He said as AJ nodded.

"Not many couples get together over the death of a serial killer." AJ said, "I'm sure the girls will love to hear that story when they're older." She nodded, "Although, we may as well tell them now since you told them all about Bonnie and Clyde." She laughed.

"Yeah I didn't mean that, they were asking and it just came out." Punk nodded as AJ smiled.

"It happens." AJ nodded. The best part about their relationship, was it really wasn't about being perfect parents. There were plenty of times were they screwed up, but they always found ways past it and supported each other. Being parents together had brought them closer on a completely different level.

Punk turned to her, noticing she was taking the blonde wig off, "Hey, hey… what are you doing?" He paused as AJ looked at him.

"What?" AJ laughed.

"Aren't you keeping that on?" He raised a brow as AJ left the wig alone and laughed a little.

"I didn't know if you still wanted to-"

"Really?" Punk tilted his head, "I need this after tonight." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, I do too." AJ nodded, climbing over him and wrapping her arms around his neck as he collapsed back on the bed with her, kissing her neck as she moaned softly, turning her head and capturing his lips as she unbuttoned his shirt and stripped it from him, rolling around as he hovered over her, taking her jumper and skirt off and tossing it onto the floor.

He was about to reach down and taking her panties off when he noticed she wasn't wearing any, looking down and smirking as AJ smiled.

"Must have forgot." She whispered in his ear as he smiled, kissing her neck as she rolled her head back, feeling him part her folds below and stroke her clit as she gasped.

"You're so wet." He groaned, kissing her neck as she nodded and smiled.

"Mmm… I want it from behind." She whispered in his ear, tugging on his ear lobe with her teeth as Punk smirked, feeling him undo his pants, pushing them down with her feet as AJ looked into his eyes.

"If that's what you want." He smiled, kneeling back from hovering over her as she sat up, dropping to her hands and knees in front of him, smiling to him over her shoulder as he ran his hand through his hair, stroking himself up and down as he watched her lower her face to the mattress, keeping her hips in the air as he moved forward to her.

He ran the tip of his length up and down her slit before pushing inside of her as AJ clenched the bed sheets and moaned.

"Fuck." She moaned out blissfully as Punk smiled, thrusting in and out of her, his hips crashing down against her ass as he kept his hands on her hips, "Fuck, baby." AJ moaned, pressing her forehead against the mattress.

Punk took her hands behind her back, thrusting into her harder as AJ moaned out in bliss, "Shit." Punk moaned as he held her hands behind her back and thrusted into her, watching as she began to meet his thrusts.

He paused himself inside of her and watched as she moved back and forth on her own, letting her hands go and putting his hands behind his head as AJ watched him in the mirror in front of them.

"Fuck, yes." AJ moaned, clenching the bed sheets as she backed herself back and forth on his length. Punk eventually took control back, thrusting back into her harder as AJ smiled.

He pulled her up, her back pressing against his stomach, kneeling up in front of him as he kissed her neck, wrapping his hand around her throat gently as AJ smiled.

"Harder." AJ whispered seductively, as he went to take the wig off, "No." AJ pushed his hand away, "No, keep it on." She smirked as Punk smiled, pushing her back down in front of him, taking her by the hips and thrusting into her harder as AJ moaned, "Fuck, baby… just like that." She smirked, "Fuck I'm gonna cum, just like that." AJ nodded, gasping and moaning as Punk thrusted into her hard and fast.

He felt her tightening around him, her knuckles going white as she gripped the sheets, feeling the rush of her orgasm shooting through her body as she moaned out loudly.

"Shh." Punk chuckled, leaning over her back and covering her mouth as AJ removed his hand and continued to moan out, "Fuck, you're so sexy." Punk shook his head, kissing her shoulder and down her back as AJ smiled.

"I want more." AJ nodded, looking at him in the mirror in front of them, biting her lip and looking at him with hazy eyes as he smiled.

He pulled out of her and lay down on the bed on his back as AJ turned around.

"Come get it then." He nodded as she smirked, climbing over him and sinking down on his length, leaning over him and kissing him passionately.

* * *

"Ok, breakfast in the car, let's go." Punk nodded to the girls, grabbing their backpacks as they picked up their toast.

"Can't we ever eat breakfast here?" Kaia huffed, heading for the door whilst Marty trailed behind.

"Well someone wouldn't get out of bed this morning so now we're running late." Punk looked at Marty who looked up at him.

"Daddy I was very tired." Marty defended herself.

"Mhm." Punk nodded, opening up the door and letting them run out to the car whilst he locked up. AJ was already at work as she started early certain days so she could get away earlier.

He locked up and got into the car, heading to his mother's where he dropped Marty off before heading on to drop Kaia off at school, eventually taking himself to work after. He couldn't remember the days where he left his house and just headed straight to work.

"You got everything for school, Kaia?" Punk asked, driving along the road, looking in his rear view mirror where Marty was falling asleep whilst eating her toast and Kaia was writing something, "Hey, what are you doing?" Punk wondered.

"Nothing." Kaia looked up.

"That better not be homework." Punk warned as Marty woke up and turned to her sister.

"Yes, it's homework." Marty said.

"Hey, why'd you have to say that?" Kaia hissed as Marty smirked.

"Kaia, come on, we talked about this." Punk said.

"It's only a little bit." Kaia defended.

"You do it the night before-"

"It was Halloween, daddy." Kaia said.

"Well then you do it the night before that." Punk said, "You gotta stop this." He told her as Kaia just scoffed.

Punk eventually got to his mother's, "You stay in here and finish that." Punk nodded to Kaia.

"Ok." Kaia nodded, having her toast whilst finishing her spelling whilst Punk helped Marty out of the car, heading for his mother's door and knocking on it.

"You pack me some games?" Marty asked him.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, waiting for his mother to answer the door. She usually answered right away but was taking longer than usual.

"Where is she?" Marty wondered.

"Why don't you go back to the car." Punk nodded to her.

"Ok." Marty said, skipping off to the car whilst Punk opened up the door to his mother's house, walking on in and looking around when he saw her lying on the kitchen floor.

"Mom." Punk rushed into the kitchen, crouching down, "Mom." Punk shook her worriedly as he could see she was unconscious.


	4. Bad News

**Bad News**

* * *

"What the hell happened?" AJ shook her head, rushing into the hospital room where Punk's mother had been taken to. As soon as Punk found her, he took her to the hospital where they immediately took her in for tests, hooking her up on an IV also. The girls had gone to the café with Eve whilst AJ had rushed down to the different department to find Punk.

"I-I don't know. I don't know, I just found her on the kitchen floor. She was passed out. She started coming round in the car but she wasn't making any sense." Punk shook his head as AJ looked over at Nadine in the hospital bed.

"Ok, are they doing scans?" AJ asked him, walking over to Nadine and checking the machinery to make sure everything was in properly. Being a nurse meant she could handle this a lot more closely.

"Uh… yeah, I think so. They said she could just be dehydrated or her blood sugars could be low so the IV will help, but I think they're gonna take blood and do some tests."

"Yeah, definitely." AJ nodded, "Did she have the flu or anything?" AJ asked him.

"No, she… she's been fine. She looked kinda tired the other day but I didn't suspect she was feeling ill or anything." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Ok, who is her doctor?" AJ asked him.

"Uh… I can't remember her name. Short blonde hair and glasses, tall, maybe your age or older." He said.

"Tracy." AJ figured, "Ok, I'll go talk to her and make sure she gets scans done. You just stay here with her in case she wakes up." AJ said, placing her hand on his arm as Punk nodded. She noticed he was a very white shade, "Hey, she'll be ok." She nodded, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly as Punk sighed.

"That was terrifying." Punk admitted. Seeing his mother lying on the floor like that, he didn't know what to think.

"She's in the best place." AJ assured him.

"I couldn't even get Kaia to school." Punk sighed to himself, "She's in the café with Eve and Marty."

"One sick day isn't gonna do any harm." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded, "Have you called Seth?"

"Yeah, I did when I got into the hospital. He's on his way." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Ok, I'm gonna go talk to Tracy, I'll be back." She told him, kissing his cheek and leaving the room as Punk nodded. He admired his wife so much for the job she did. The hospital was very go go go at all times. There were times where she said how much his job worried her, but the truth was, no job scared him more than hers.

AJ left the room and wandered down the corridor to where Tracy was in the back after taking Tracy's blood samples.

"Tracy." AJ got her attention.

"Oh, hi April." Tracy nodded, "I was just about to go talk to your husband." She said as AJ nodded.

"Hey, can you make sure that Nadine gets a full scan and x-rays. I know how easy it can be to dismiss things, just to be sure." AJ nodded as Tracy looked across at her.

"Yeah… April, I uh… I looked up Nadine's files on the computer." Tracy said, "You know that she has a stage 3 tumour in her brain, right?" Tracy asked as AJ looked across at her.

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"She was at the doctor's office… 5 weeks ago." Tracy looked at the files, "She was sent for a scan and got the results last week. She's taken a seizure and her bloods are way down. We can stabilise her and get her back to good health but… chemotherapy and surgery is gonna have to be considered." She said.

"She-She's got cancer?" AJ shook her head as Tracy nodded.

"I'm so sorry, April." Tracy placed her hand on her shoulder as AJ shook her head. She was in shock, disbelief. It was something so commonly heard, especially in a hospital of all places, but to hear it regarding someone so close to her, her own mother-in-law who was really the only mother she had… it was really hurting her heart, and she had no idea how Seth and Punk were going to take this sort of upsetting news.

"I uh… Phil doesn't know." AJ shook her head, "I'll need to tell him." AJ said as Tracy nodded.

"I understand." Tracy said, "When we came in, he just said she'd collapsed, I asked if she had any medical problems and he said no so when I looked up her files I figured this was a recent diagnosis." She said, "I can call her doctor to come talk to you and your husband-"

"No, I'll… I'll talk to him." AJ nodded, running her hand through her hair and sighing, "I'll talk to him." She said as Tracy nodded.

"We're still going to run tests and do another scan to see how things look. Once she's came around, we'll advise that she speaks to a consultant and her doctor about surgery and starting chemotherapy." She said as AJ nodded. It was all such terrifying, upsetting words that she never thought would come so close to home. She was in such shock but she knew she had to keep it together if she was telling Punk.

"Thank you." AJ nodded to her, leaving the desk as she walked back down the corridor to Nadine's room, taking a few deep breaths before walking back into the room where Punk was sitting down by her bed.

"Hey, are they gonna do a scan?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, yeah they're gonna do one." AJ nodded to him, "Uh, Phil can… can we talk outside?" She asked.

"What's up?" Punk stood up.

"Well just… doctors are gonna be in and out of her room." She said, leaving the room with him, finding a little seating area over by the coffee machine, "She's in good hands." She said, placing her hand on his thigh as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I figured she's just not been drinking or eating enough. She does get like that sometimes." Punk nodded.

"Phil." AJ said as Punk turned to her, looking at her as he noticed the worry in her eyes, immediately turning his stomach into knots.

"What is it?" Punk asked worriedly.

"It's not good." AJ shook her head as Punk looked at her, "Your mom has been at the doctor's and… well she's already had a scan." She said as Punk looked at her, "She's got a brain tumour." She said, squeezing his hand tightly as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Punk shook his head, "H-How? I… she never even said… when did she-" He paused, realising words were just pouring out of his mouth without even realising it.

"She got the results back a week ago." AJ nodded as Punk ran his hands over his face and shook his head.

"It's cancerous?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ sighed as Punk placed his hands over his mouth and nose, "There… There are ways to… to shrink the tumour and to really treat it well, especially when it's caught early enough." AJ nodded. She had to be the voice of hope for him, "She'll be advised to have surgery and then chemotherapy."

"But the tumour can't be removed fully?" Punk asked her as AJ shook her head.

"I wish it could." AJ nodded, "But there are still ways to help her, even if it's not a permanent solution, it can still-"

"It can still what? Give her a few months to live?" Punk stood up as AJ sighed.

"I'm sorry." AJ shook her head, "Phil, I'm so sorry." She sighed, watching as he paced the corridor in circles, taking his hand and stopping him as he looked down at her, "Come here." She shook her head, wrapping her arms around him as he buried his face into his neck, "She'll get so much help and support, ok? And she'll fight." She said, rubbing his back softly as he stayed quiet, keeping his head into her neck as she sighed.

* * *

AJ managed to get an early finish from the hospital and went home with Punk and the girls. Nadine was still resting and so AJ suggested they give her space and visit tomorrow where they could have a better chat. Seth arrived at the hospital where Punk and AJ both broke the news to him. He was just as shocked and upset as Punk, and really didn't know what to say.

"What are you making, mommy?" Marty walked into the kitchen, having smelt some good food from in the living room where she and her sister were watching TV.

"It's just soup." AJ smiled to her, "You can have some later if you like." AJ nodded.

"I don't know, I had a lot of spaghetti." She rubbed her little tummy, "Can I see?" She asked as AJ nodded, picking her up and opening the lid to the pot of soup she was making. She was pretty much just stress cooking anything she could get her hands on.

"Smells good, huh?" AJ smiled, kissing her cheek as Marty nodded.

"Yeah, it does." Marty nodded, "Where is daddy? He's disappeared." Marty said as AJ put her back down on the ground.

"Daddy's just having a little nap right now." AJ nodded.

"Oh." Marty nodded, "I love my naps." She said.

"I know you do." AJ smiled, "What is your sister doing?"

"Playing with her switch." Marty said, "Can I go wake daddy up? I miss him." She admitted.

"No, baby. Let's just let him sleep." AJ nodded to her as Marty huffed, "Why don't you go play with Kaia on her switch." AJ suggested.

"Yeah." Marty nodded, running off out of the kitchen and back into the living room whilst AJ turned the soup down on the stove and cleared up the kitchen. She was doing anything to take her mind off of the bad news they'd gotten. Punk disappeared upstairs as soon as they got home. She knew him enough to know that he just needed time on his own right now. She'd invited Seth around for dinner but he insisted to go home and that he would be ok. She knew he had Becky to lean on at this time.

She heard a knock at the front door and left the kitchen, walking down the hallway and opening up the door where she saw Dean standing.

"Hi, Dean." AJ smiled to him.

"Hey. Have you heard from Phil today? He didn't show up at work." Dean said.

"Yeah, gosh… sorry I would have called." AJ shook her head, "Phil's mom is in hospital. She uh… she's been diagnosed with cancer."

"Fucking hell." Dean sighed to himself, running his hand through his hair.

"Phil is in bed so… I never even thought about calling you to tell you or even Tony." AJ said, "I reckon he'll be off for a few days." AJ nodded.

"Man, I'm so sorry to hear that." Dean sighed, "You'll tell him and Nadine that I'm asking for them. Anything I can do to help out, let me know, if you need me to babysit the kids or… anything." Dean emphasised as AJ smiled. He'd always been a very good friend to them.

"Thanks, Dean. I really appreciate that." AJ smiled to him as Dean nodded.

"How bad is it looking?" Dean sighed.

"It's a brain tumour." AJ said as Dean shut his eyes and sighed, "It's not good but they can operate and the tumour can be shrunk for sure." AJ nodded, "There's ways to keep it under control, I guess." AJ said.

"Yeah, well gotta look on the positive side of this. Especially something like this. I know it's hard to find any positive." He sighed, "Well just send my love to everyone."

"I will." Dean nodded.

"Hey, did you find anything about the shots fired last night?" AJ asked him, "Phil will still probably be interested." AJ said.

"No, nothing yet." Dean shook his head, "Tell Phil not to worry about it, we got plenty of guys on the job." He said as AJ nodded.

"Well you know sometimes there's no telling him." AJ said as Dean nodded, "But I'll let him know." AJ nodded.

"Ok. Well take care." Dean nodded as AJ smiled, closing the door over and locking it up.

She decided to then head upstairs, walking into their bedroom where Punk was lying in bed, awake.

"Hey." AJ said softly.

"Who was at the door?" Punk asked her.

"Just Dean." AJ nodded, "He was just worried about you not being at work but I let him know so… I'm sure he can tell Tony. I said you'd probably take some time off work-"

"No, I'll be back tomorrow." Punk nodded as AJ looked across at him.

"You know you can take a few days-"

"To what? Lie around and think about it?" Punk asked her as AJ sighed, sitting down on the bed, "There's no reason for me not to be at work." He said. AJ knew it was just the type of person he was. He didn't make excuses for himself, even in the most extreme cases like this.

"Phil, this is a pretty justifiable reason I'd say so." AJ nodded.

"Well I'm fine. I'll be back tomorrow." He said as AJ looked at him.

"We need to go visit your mom tomorrow." AJ said as Punk nodded slowly, "So work can wait." She told him as he looked across at her, "We need to be there for her whilst they discuss treatments and surgery." She said as Punk looked at her. It still didn't feel real. He was always under the impression that his mother was indestructible.

"I knew there was something wrong." Punk sighed to himself, "I spotted it. She wasn't the same. She was tired and pale. She was avoiding conversation with me and… I should have said something-"

"She was probably not wanting to worry you, not until she got results." AJ said, "They've caught it early which means that there's more of a chance they can treat it better." AJ told him, fortunate that she had the knowledge to assure him, "We just have to be there for her, and each other, and Seth." AJ reminded him as Punk sighed.

"What are the girls doing?" Punk asked her.

"They're just downstairs playing. Marty misses you." AJ nodded as Punk smiled.

"Can you… send them up? I kinda want a distraction." He said.

"Phillip Brooks am I not a good enough distraction anymore?" AJ smiled playfully, attempting to raise any spirits she could as Punk smiled.

"Of course you are." Punk nodded, "But the girls talk a lot more than you do and also about cartoons and… not real life stuff." He said as AJ smiled, understanding what he meant.

"I shall send them up. You want anything to eat?" She asked him.

"No, although something does smell quite good." He admitted, sitting up against the headboard as AJ stood up.

"Oh, I made soup." AJ nodded.

"Stress cooking?" Punk figured as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, "Didn't know what to do with myself." She sighed as Punk nodded. He felt lucky that she was here with him and could give him the space but also the closeness and comfort to talk to and confide in. He felt pretty lifeless and depressed by this news, but his family being here for him was so helpful.

"Your soup is good, it just normally always comes out when something is wrong." He said.

"I know, I should start happy cooking really." AJ nodded as Punk smiled, "I'll send the babies up." She told him, leaning over the bed and giving him a sweet kiss, "I love you." She nudged his nose sweetly as Punk smiled.

"I love you." Punk nodded as she left the bedroom and headed back downstairs whilst Punk ran his hands over his face and sighed. His eyes were hanging heavy and he felt so lathergic and down. It definitely was not a good day.

"Daddy!" Kaia exclaimed, running into the bedroom and jumping onto the bed as Marty followed a little slower behind, being a little more careful than Kaia, "You're awake." Kaia smiled, jumping on Punk happily as Punk smiled and squeezed her tightly.

"Daddy daddy." Marty got onto the bed and jumped on top of Punk and her sister.

"Squashing daddy." Punk laughed under his two children who surprisingly had death grips as hugs.

"You're finally awake." Marty smiled, sitting down on Punks legs as he nodded, "Did you have a nice nap?" She asked him whilst Kaia sat down by his side, cuddling into him.

"Yeah, I guess." Punk lied with a smile, "What are you two doing? What did mommy make for dinner? Spaghetti by any chance?" He wondered, noticing Kaia had red sauce all over her mouth.

"How did you know that?" Kaia gasped, looking up at Punk.

"Daddy knows these things." Punk nodded.

"She's making soup too. And cookies. Mommy keeps my tummy fed." Marty patted her stomach as Punk smiled.

"Cookies too? We're in for a treat." Punk said.

"Daddy look at this level I'm on now." Kaia showed Punk who looked on whilst Marty ran up, standing at Punk's other side and playing with his long hair which was out of its usual slicked back style.

"Let me get my brush and my bands." Marty said, jumping off the bed and running off to get some things to do her father's hair.

"Can I have a go?" Punk asked Kaia who nodded, passing him the switch whilst Marty returned with her brush and hair bands.

"Daddy I'm doing your hair." Marty said.

"Ok." Punk nodded whilst playing on the switch, getting help from Kaia who showed him how to play and collect different bonuses.

"Some nice ribbon to go in your pony tails." Marty showed Punk, brushing his hair and separating it down the middle.

Meanwhile AJ had come back upstairs to give the girls some juice boxes that they'd left downstairs when she paused at the door, looking in as she watched Marty doing Punk's hair whilst Kaia helped him play the switch.

"You're kinda good." Kaia nodded, impressed.

"Daddy, this ribbon is so nice in your hair." Marty smiled happily to herself as Punk looked over to the mirror.

"That's not too bad actually." Punk nodded to himself.

"Ok, next level next level." Kaia said whilst Marty began doing another pony tail in his hair. AJ figured his best therapy right now was the girls.


	5. Strength

**Strength**

* * *

"Have a great day at school, baby." AJ smiled, crouching down in front of Kaia, "Keep this hat on until you get inside please." She said, kissing Kaia on the head and adjusting her beanie as Kaia shoved her away and rolled her eyes.

"Not in front of my friends, mommy." Kaia sighed, "I can fix my own hat." She said as Punk laughed to himself and reached down, pulling the hat over her eyes as Kaia huffed.

"You should fix it now." Punk nodded. He already enjoyed irritating his daughters and watching them scowl at him every now and then. He figured it was part of the dad gig at times.

"You guys are embarrassing me." Kaia said.

"In front of who?" Punk laughed, crouching down in front of her.

"My friends." Kaia said, "Over there." She pointed to her little friends waiting on her as Punk smiled and nodded.

"Ok, well… you have a good day, ok?" He smiled, "Make it a good one. Learn lots of stuff." He said as AJ smiled to herself.

"I will." Kaia nodded, trying to pull away from Punk who pulled her in and began kissing her cheek, harassing her with kisses as Kaia tried to fight him off, secretly laughing to herself.

"Is this embarrassing?" Punk teased.

"Daddy, enough." Kaia stepped on his foot hard to get him to stop.

"Ouch." Punk laughed as Kaia folded her arms.

"Don't do that." She warned him as AJ smiled a little whilst Punk nodded.

"Ok, ok." Punk smiled, "You have a good day." He nodded.

"Ok, bye." Kaia smiled, running away as her little backpack bounced up and down whilst Punk stood up straight and watched with a smile, "Oh, no… wait." Kaia spoke to herself, turning back around and running to her parents as they both looked at her with confusion, "My lunch box." Kaia told her mother.

AJ didn't even notice she was still holding it and shook her head, too busy daydreaming, "Oh, sorry." AJ laughed, "No crusts like you insisted and your apple is cut up." She smiled.

"Thanks, mommy. You're the best!" She cheered, taking the lunch box and running away again as Punk and AJ smiled.

"Must be nice not having to worry about literally anything." Punk smiled, watching Kaia so freely run to find her friends and head into her little class. Knowing their children were both so oblivious was helpful.

"I know. Sucks being an adult." AJ sighed, placing her arm around his back and resting her head on his chest, "I hope Marty is ok with Dean. He doesn't usually babysit the girls much." She said.

"It's only for a couple hours and… Marty loves Dean." Punk assured her as AJ nodded.

It was rare for them to both take Kaia to school, usually they took turns due to work, but today they were headed into the hospital to see Nadine and so they dropped Kaia off on the way there whilst Dean agreed to watch Marty for a couple hours.

"You ok?" AJ asked him, rubbing his back as they walked back to the car.

"Yeah, yeah I'm ok." Punk nodded, "I just… I guess I don't really know what to say to her." He admitted, "I feel like there's nothing positive I can tell her."

"Hey, there is. The positive is that they can treat her. They can shrink the tumour and she can get treatment and surgery. That's a massive triumph when it comes to cancer."

"They're never gonna remove it, though." Punk said.

"You just can't think that way." AJ said, "We just have to be there for her throughout it all. Be someone to talk to. Help her if she needs anything." She said as Punk nodded, "You know it'll kill her to know she's worrying us."

"I know. It's probably why she never told us." Punk said, "I just don't want her to worry or… or be scared." He sighed as AJ nodded.

"I know. That's why we gotta be there for her." AJ said, "And each other." She said, kissing his arm as he smiled.

"The girls pretty much kept me occupied last night." Punk nodded.

He'd spent most of the night in bed with his daughters. He got pretty good at playing Kaia's switch whilst Marty did many different hairstyles on him. AJ had brought them some cookies up and they eventually all watched a movie in bed. It was something he really needed and he was so grateful for his family.

"Yeah, they're good little therapists." AJ smiled.

"And you." Punk nodded as AJ smiled.

"Let's go." She nodded, getting into the car as they headed for the hospital.

* * *

"Hey, mom." Punk smiled, walking into the hospital room with Seth and AJ where Nadine was sitting up in bed reading a magazine.

"Oh, hey." Nadine smiled tiredly, "What are you all doing here?" She questioned as they looked at her. She was a very tough individual. Growing up the boys couldn't remember a time where they saw her cry or break down. Even with all the shit their father put her through.

"Really?" Seth questioned, "You want us to leave?" He teased as Nadine smiled.

"No, of course not." Nadine said, closing the magazine up and sitting it over, "I'm just saying, I know you all have jobs, important ones." She looked at AJ and Punk whilst Seth nodded to himself.

"Fixing the people's cars isn't important?" Seth asked her with a smile as Nadine laughed a little.

"Oh, honey of course it is. It's just like April helping sick children and Phil saving lives." She nodded as Punk and AJ laughed a little. It was good to see that she wasn't letting this news get her down.

"Yeah yeah." Seth waved his hand, walking over to her and giving her a tight hug as Nadine smiled. It was a different kind of hug that she'd never received before. It was a very tight and scared hug.

"Hey, I'm ok." Nadine told him, messing with his hair as Seth nodded to himself and stood back whilst Punk gave her a hug too. It was the exact same type of hug. Tight and full of worry, "Hey you, I'm fine." Nadine rubbed his back softly as Punk just nodded. He knew that was gonna be the first thing she said.

"Hey." AJ smiled, giving her a hug. It was then she realised that her daughter-in-law was just as good as a daughter, because her hug felt the exact same as the ones she'd received from her sons. April was really her third child and she hated that she was worrying them all with this horrible news.

"How are you all?" Nadine asked them calmly as they pulled over some chairs.

"We're… we're fine, mom." Punk nodded, "How are you? How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine." Nadine nodded, "I want to go home but they won't let me." She rolled her eyes.

"You think maybe there's a reason for that?" Seth asked as Nadine nodded.

"Something to do with this cancer, I don't know." She shrugged, trying to make light of it as Punk looked across at her. He could tell she was scared, and she was only putting on a brave face.

"They've caught it early." Punk said, "So that means that there's better chances of treating it. You'll get surgery and then chemotherapy." He nodded, "And we'll be here to help you." He assured her, "Anything you need."

"Oh, I'll be fine. You all have lives, jobs, children-"

"Mom, you're really sick." Punk nodded seriously as Nadine looked across at him, "This isn't the flu. It's… it's cancer. And it's in your brain-"

"I know that, Phil." Nadine nodded.

"Well then you're taking the help we give you. No being stubborn." He said as Nadine just sat quietly.

"How do you feel?" AJ asked her.

"Honestly, I feel ok." Nadine nodded, "I think it was a… a seizure I had." She said.

"Yeah, seizures can be common with brain tumours." AJ nodded, "Tracy, your doctor, she's real nice and she'll really take care of you whenever you're here for treatment or if it's post-surgery. She's really great." AJ said as Nadine nodded.

"Has anyone come around to talk to you about surgery?" Seth asked.

"Well they were going to send a consultant around later to talk with me." Nadine said, "How are the girls?" She asked Punk who looked at her and nodded slowly. It appeared she really wasn't digesting the news, and he understood why, and he hated to see her like this.

"They're both fine." Punk smiled, "Missing you. They'll be the first to visit when you get home." He nodded.

"Oh, my sweethearts." Nadine smiled.

"Is there anything you need us to bring in?" AJ asked her, "Clothes and stuff?"

"Yeah just some clothes." Nadine nodded, "Hopefully I can get out tomorrow." She shook her head as they nodded.

"You just gotta be careful with yourself." AJ nodded, "Don't try and do too much."

"Hey, all of you." She looked at them, "I feel fine and I will not have you all stop your lives just to sit around and watch me all day. I know… I know this is bad, of course I do." She shook her head, "But it's also life and unfortunately, it goes on even when bad things happen." She said.

"I don't know if you're just in shock or you're inhumanely strong." Punk raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, raising you two was the hardest thing I went through. I got this." She smiled to them as Punk and Seth smiled.

"We're here for you." Punk nodded, "All of us."

"I know you are, sweetheart." Nadine nodded, "I know you all are." She smiled, "We'll get through this." She said as they nodded. They weren't all surprised that this was how she was reacting. She was a very tough individual and didn't sit down to anything or anyone. They were so grateful to have a mother as strong and as amazing as she was.


	6. Life Goes On

**Life Goes On**

* * *

"What the hell is going on in here?" Punk walked into he and AJ's bedroom where the girls were. He'd left them watching a movie whilst he made dinner downstairs, but was brought back up when he heard very loud music.

"Nothing." Marty shrugged, bouncing up and down on the bed as Punk noticed she had one of AJ's bras on whilst Kaia was sitting on the floor with some of AJ's make-up. He then turned to the TV where there was some sort of rap music on. It was like he'd walked into his very own hell.

"Uh…" Punk couldn't find the words at first, "What… why are you wearing that?" He asked Marty first of all who had AJ's bra on over her t-shirt, of course hanging off her.

"Mommy wears them." Marty bounced up and down on the bed, "Why can't I?"

"Because you can't. That's the answer you're gonna get, come here." He shook his head, walking over to the bed as Marty huffed and turned around, "How'd you even clip this thing?"

"I helped her." Kaia said as Punk took the bra from her and shoved it back in AJ's dresser.

"What do you know about any of this stuff? You guys were watching Aladdin when I left." Punk said, horrified.

"We just like mommy's stuff." Kaia told him simply.

"Ok, well mommy's stuff isn't play toys." Punk said, crouching down to Kaia, noticing she had eyeshadow all over her eye lids and eyebrows for that matter, as well as foundation around her neck, "Ya'll couldn't have been boys?" Punk groaned to himself, putting all of AJ's make-up back in her bag whilst Marty jumped down and headed over to AJ's dresser to look some more.

"Oh, what's this?" Marty smiled, pulling out something as Punk turned around.

"Ok, no…" Punk stood up, snatching the lingerie piece from her and shoving it back in the drawer which he immediately closed over.

"Hey, you almost jammed my fingers." Marty put her hands on her hips.

"Ok, let's set some ground rules for mommy and daddy's bedroom, I know you guys like watching movies in here but don't… don't go through the dressers or mommy's make-up or… watch this ridiculous music." He looked over to the TV.

"Why not?" Marty questioned.

"Are there secrets in here?" Kaia smiled as Punk looked at her.

"Kaia, I say this with all the love in my heart but… you look like a clown, baby." Punk nodded.

"Really?" Kaia gasped, "Cool." She smiled as Punk rolled his eyes.

"I think you're both going for a bath." He nodded.

"What about dinner?" Marty asked.

"That can wait." Punk shook his head, walking into he and AJ's bathroom to run a bath for them. Every day presented new parenting challenges for sure.

* * *

"When do you get off?" Eve asked, walking into the back where AJ was filling out some paper work.

"Eight." AJ nodded, "I only get to see the girls for a little bit before they go to bed but it's better than nothing." She said.

"How is the new schedule working for you?" Eve asked her.

"You know it's so much better." AJ nodded, "I know it's longer hours but it's less days which means I can get more full days with the girls."

"How is Phil's schedule been looking?" Eve asked.

"Crazy as usual." AJ nodded, "The good thing is it's flexible, he can work around me so if I'm not there at night or in the morning, he's got the girls and vice versa."

"Look at you two, getting this parenting thing right." Eve smiled.

"Yeah well sometimes." AJ nodded.

"How is Phil's mom?" Eve asked her.

"She's doing ok." AJ said, "She's got a date for surgery and when she's gonna start chemo shortly after. It's just about getting that hard stuff out of the way and then… recovering I guess." AJ said.

"How has Phil been?" Eve asked, "I know him and Seth are close to their mom."

"Yeah, well she's all they really had. They took it hard but they're doing ok." AJ nodded, "I think Phil is burying himself in work… and me." She shrugged as Eve nodded and laughed a little.

"As long as you're ok with that." Eve nodded.

"Oh, I'm fine with that." AJ smiled to her.

"Does he hold out for long?" Eve wondered as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"During sex?" AJ asked with a laugh as Eve nodded, "Yeah, long enough I guess."

"I can never get guys who go past five minutes, literally." Eve rolled her eyes as AJ laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, I think it's rare. Phil does not too bad." She nodded.

"Lucky you." Eve said, "How long have you guys been together now? It feels like centuries."

"Really?" AJ laughed, "It still feels like we only got together a couple months ago to me."

"That's a good thing." Eve smiled.

"Uh… so about seven years now." AJ said, "Gosh, that is quite a long time."

"You made an honest man out of him." Eve said, "Not the friendliest human being before he got with you." Eve reminded her.

"Oh, I know he wasn't." AJ said, "Actually it wasn't entirely me who changed him. I think it was the girls." AJ nodded, "They just made him look at life differently. They give him patience which is strange because… I feel like most days I run out of patience." She admitted.

"He's gonna be in trouble with them." Eve nodded.

"Yeah, I keep telling him that." AJ laughed as Eve smiled.

"Oh, hey what about the shooting that happened? Have they found anything yet?" Eve asked.

"No, Phil hasn't been working on it actually he's been caught up with other stuff." She said, "But they haven't found anything. Because it was Halloween it just…it makes it all the more difficult." AJ said.

"Who would want to do that, though?" Eve sighed.

"No idea. We're living in a scary world. It's just a relief that no one got seriously hurt." AJ nodded.

"Of course." Eve said, "And gosh, you've suffered enough with police drama."

"Yeah, tell me about it." AJ shook her head, finishing the rest of her paper work, "Ok, I'm gonna go take the trash out and then see to Jamie in room 14 and then that's me out." AJ nodded to her.

"Lucky you. My shift has just started." Eve frowned.

"I'll be thinking of you… whilst I'm at home in bed." AJ smiled.

"Bitch." Eve shook her head as AJ smiled, leaving the back room in the hospital and grabbing her coat to head out with the trash.

Just as she was getting her coat on, she heard her phone ring and noticed it was Punk, which she answered and got a run-down of what had been going on in their house for the night.

"My bra?" AJ laughed, walking down the back stairs of the hospital with the trash whilst talking to Punk on the phone, "What does she know about bras?" AJ chuckled to herself, "Hey, don't say our baby looked like a clown."

"You didn't see her." Punk mumbled through the phone as AJ laughed, "Also what's with this rap music? Have you heard the lyrics to some of that stuff?" He asked with concern.

"No, what's it like?" AJ smiled, of course teasing him.

"All I kept hearing was ass and broke bitches." Punk informed her.

"Sounds intellectual." AJ laughed, opening up the exit door and heading towards the trash trailers around the side, "You sound stressed."

"I am." Punk groaned, "They've had their bath and they're having dinner now."

"Oh, backwards tonight?" AJ wondered.

"Well, I… my mind got burned with all the ass rapping and bra wearing." Punk nodded, "She picked up that lingerie piece you have in your dresser too. You know… the ones with the stockings."

"She didn't." AJ gasped.

"Mhm." Punk nodded.

"They're out to get us." AJ nodded, throwing the trash into the trailer.

"Yeah." Punk said, "You finishing up?"

"Yeah, I'll be home soon." AJ smiled.

"Ok, I'll let you go then." Punk nodded, "See you when you get home."

"Ok, love you." AJ replied.

"I love you too." Punk said as AJ hung up, putting her phone in her pocket and smiling to herself after hearing what the girls had gotten up to for the night.

Just as she was walking back into the hospital, wrapping her coat around her a little tighter and getting her pass out to get back in, she noticed a car parked across in the back of the car park. She knew to never let her past nightmare affect how she lived her life, although she was open and honest about still suffering from PTSD after what she'd went through seven years ago.

She paused, looking over at the parked car. It was close but not close enough for her to see the person in the car. The engine was running and the lights were on. It did make her nervous but she knew that it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

She opened up the door at the side and noticed the car suddenly take off quickly. It was odd for anyone to be parked out the side which was why it always spooked her, but she knew it was nothing to lose sleep over.

* * *

"Did you give them like sugar or something before they went to bed?" AJ laughed, getting out of the shower and walking into the bedroom where Punk was lying on their bed whilst she had a towel wrapped around her with wet hair.

"No, they were little devils tonight." Punk shook his head, "Acting up on me."

"They enjoy teasing you." AJ said as Punk nodded, "It's only gonna get worse."

"Don't say that." Punk groaned as AJ smiled, "I got put on a new case today."

"Oh, yeah?" AJ smiled, using some body cream on her arms and legs as Punk watched her dreamily, "What's the case?" She asked him as he continued to watch her and stare, "Phil?" AJ laughed.

"Huh?" Punk shook his head, "Oh, uh… missing person, my favourite." He said.

"Hey, you know why Tony puts you on them? Because you're good at your job and he trusts you. That's not a bad thing." AJ said.

"It's a nightmare." Punk said, "Cause I still think about all those girls who… I couldn't find in time-"

"Hey." AJ looked over to him, "That was not your fault. That was a whole different situation. That man… that creature was a psychopath. You couldn't control any of that. No one could." AJ said, "Don't blame yourself for anything."

"I know." Punk said, "It's hard not to, though."

"Well I saw a car in the dreaded back car park." AJ told him.

"A car? Shocking." Punk nodded.

"Hey, you know I get freaked-"

"April, get someone else to take the trash out." Punk nodded, he'd suggested it to her a dozen times.

"It's my trash, though. We rotate turns." AJ shrugged, "Hey, I was ok. The car drove off and I realised that I can't overreact like that. I mean it's where it all went wrong but… that man is dead, nothing is gonna happen."

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "He's dead but that doesn't change what he did to you. What he tried to do. You still have to live with that." He said.

"And I'm ok." AJ assured him, "It's gonna be so sweet when we tell the girls how we got together. Mommy was being attacked by a psychotic serial killer and daddy killed him. If they have any sense of dark humour, they'll appreciate that."

"Oh, I'm sure they will. In the midst of all the… bra wearing and… make-up… the ass songs." He sighed, feeling nauseous as AJ laughed.

"Just you wait for the period conversations." AJ smiled.

"Hey, that is all you." Punk reminded her, "I have no idea how any of that works."

"Well you should. What if something happened to me and they come to you and think they're dying or something and you don't know what to do?" AJ asked, "Read up about it."

"They're three and five. Let them just… eat alphabet spaghetti right now." Punk nodded as AJ smiled, walking around to his side of the bed as Punk watched her, "Oh, hello." He smiled.

"Hi." AJ smirked, dropping her towel as Punk smirked, watching as she climbed over his body, smiling to himself as she lowered her face to his and kissed him seductively, keeping his wrists down against the mattress as he kissed back deeply.

She already felt him getting hard though his shorts and immediately stripped his t-shirt from him, moving down his body, kissing his chest and slithering down him as Punk smiled. She pulled his shorts and boxers down, reaching her wanted destination as she began stroking him up and down.

Punk rolled his eyes back and let his head drop back on the pillow as AJ smiled, eventually taking him into her mouth, bopping her head up and down on him as Punk moaned, looking down at her.

"Fuck." He moaned quietly, running his hand through her wet hair as she bobbed her head up and down, looking up at him. She released his length, licking all the way down him to where she used her mouth on his balls gently, using her hand to stroke him at the same time as Punk watched her, "Fuckin hell." He moaned blissfully as AJ looked up at him.

"I want you inside me." AJ smiled, moving back up and straddling his hips when she decided on something different, leaning forward and whispering in his ear as he raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" Punk looked at her as she smirked and nodded.

"I'm still wet from my shower." She whispered, taking his length from behind her and positioning it at a different entrance. It wasn't something they'd never done but they really didn't do it often.

"Holy shit." Punk moaned as AJ sank down on his length.

"Fuck." AJ moaned, leaning over his body and kissing him, beginning to move slowly up and down, "That feels so good." She whispered, cupping his face and moving up and down on him as Punk held her hips. The feeling was incredible. Just when he thought his wife couldn't turn him on any more, she pulled stuff out the bag like this, "You like fucking my ass? Huh?" She whispered as Punk responded by thrusting up into her, "Oh my God." AJ's eyes widened at the feeling.

"Yeah, I fucking like it." Punk responded as AJ smirked.

* * *

"What was that little change for?" Punk laughed, lying in bed later that night with AJ after a fun night.

"I don't know, I like it." AJ said, "And I know you do, you just never wanna ask-"

"I ask." Punk defended, "I just didn't think you were that into it."

"Did that look like I wasn't that into it?" AJ wondered with a laugh.

"Well… no, but that's just the effect I have on you." He smirked cockily as AJ laughed.

"Yeah, of course." She tapped his chest, "I hope you never get bored with me." She said.

"Are you seriously saying that after what we just did?" Punk laughed, "I'm gonna be seventy, crippled, maybe in a wheelchair and… we're still gonna go at it." He nodded, "And you're still gonna be the hottest woman on the planet."

"Just with a lot more grey hair." AJ figured.

"I'm already going kinda grey, don't rub it in." Punk rolled his eyes.

"Don't be dramatic. You've got a little bit on your head and… little bits on your hair." She said, "It's hot." She smiled, "You really got that whole daddy thing going on."

"Please don't say that ever again." Punk laughed as AJ smiled, "Good job you got a day off tomorrow, don't wanna be going to work walking all fun."

"Phil, honey you're good, but you're not gonna paralyse me." AJ assured him as Punk laughed and nodded.

"Well, I'm not exactly trying to do that." Punk said.

"I was actually gonna go to your mom's with Marty. You know, take Kaia to school and then go visit her, have a coffee and a chat." AJ said.

"Yeah that'd be nice, she'd like that." Punk nodded.

"It's just so important right now that she's talking to people and she doesn't feel alone." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. I was actually thinking maybe on like Sunday's or something, we all have dinner, do it every week and make it a thing." Punk nodded.

"Oh, yeah that'd be nice." AJ said, "But you don't think she'd think that it's because she's ill that we're doing it?" AJ wondered.

"Well I guess she probably will." Punk said, "But we gotta spend more time together, as a family anyway." He said.

"I definitely agree." AJ smiled, "It's a nice suggestion. You should talk to Seth." She nodded.

"Yeah, I will." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Now I'm really tired." She yawned as Punk smiled, kissing her head as he listened to her fall asleep very quickly, holding her in his arms, having no desire to be anywhere else but here with her.


	7. Stare

**Stare**

* * *

"Nice of you to come over on your day off." Nadine smiled as AJ sat down a coffee for her, sitting in the kitchen whilst Marty was in the living room playing, "You know you don't have to."

"I know but… I wanted to. I like visiting anyway and it's important that you're talking to someone." AJ said as Nadine smiled, "Plus, Marty really wanted to see you."

"She's a sweetheart." Nadine nodded, "They both are. Little angels. I still can't believe you ended up having my grandbabies. Phil really is the luckiest." She said.

"I'm pretty lucky too." AJ smiled.

"I never could have predicted that. Even when you were in the safe house and he was spending some time with you, I… I never thought this would end up happening. It's so wonderful." She shook her head as AJ smiled.

"I guess I never really knew him properly. All the years I spent here with Seth, practically living here, I guess I never got to know Phil, not properly." She said.

"That's because he doesn't let people know him." Nadine nodded, "He's very protective of himself."

"He is." AJ agreed, "But I think we all are in some way or another." AJ said as Nadine nodded, "You know last night he suggested to me about having dinner once a week."

"I believe dinner should be ate every night." Nadine teased as AJ smiled.

"As a family." AJ said, "Us, you, Becky and Seth… we never do it and we all have crazy lives but it'd be nice to see more of each other." She said.

"Is this because I'm sick?" Nadine figured as AJ looked across at her.

"No, it's… it's nothing like that." AJ said, "I think he just wants us all to spend more time with each other. Life is precious and yeah, I think this has really put things into perspective for him. I thought it was a nice idea."

"Of course it is. I'd love that." Nadine nodded, "But like I said before, I don't want things to change and you all to treat me differently just because of this. I know it sucks and the worst part is knowing that it's hurting you all-"

"Please, please don't worry about us. We're fine and we're here for you. This is about you getting better." AJ nodded, "Nothing else."

"You know I always thought Phil was the colder one. Well… not cold in a sense of mean or…. Well, he can be mean sometimes." Nadine nodded to herself, "But… you know, it's Seth who has been a lot more shut off to all of this. He's not really contacted me actually." She admitted, "It's like him and Phil have completely swapped places."

"I think both of them are just… finding ways to deal with things." AJ said, "Seth will come round. I know him."

"Yeah, you know both of them." Nadine smiled, "If anything does happen to me, whether it's soon or… later on or years from now, however this surgery goes… I just want you to promise me that my sons will be ok-"

"Hey, we're not having that conversation." AJ shook her head, "There's so much hope for this. They can help you." AJ said, "That's a huge positive."

"I know it is but… it will come back." Nadine nodded as AJ sighed.

"Have you got any word about the surgery?" AJ asked her.

"Just the date. I've to go into the hospital for a meeting with the consultant, I guess he'll talk to me about everything, the procedure, the recovery." She nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Well hey, please… if there's anything you need me to do, let me know."

"I'm ok. Believe me." Nadine assured her, "But thank you for being so helpful. I'm so angry at your parents." She shook her head.

"My… My parents?" AJ questioned.

"Yeah. How they could ever treat you the way they did… how they didn't care when you're such an amazing woman. I'll never understand it." Nadine shook her head as AJ nodded.

"I didn't either but then I remembered that… if they weren't so useless, I'd never have spent so much time with you and Seth. This was always my home. I spent Chrismases here and birthdays. I grew up here and I'm really glad about that." She smiled as Nadine rubbed her hand softly.

* * *

"_Do you ever leave this house?" A young Punk walked into the living room where AJ was sitting watching TV._

"_Do you?" AJ looked up at him._

"_This… this is my house." Punk shook his head with confusion, "The cubs game is on so… go… study or something." He told her, sitting down beside her as she held onto the remote, "Channel one three six." Punk nodded as AJ looked at him._

"_I'm watching ready, steady cook." AJ shrugged as Punk turned to her._

"_Are you kidding me?" Punk shook his head._

"_No, I'm not." AJ said, "Every time you watch a cubs game they lose and every time you say you're not gonna watch another game-"_

"_Obviously I'm lying." Punk shook his head, "Give me the remote." He nodded, trying to reach for it as she snatched it back._

"_No." AJ shook her head, "No, I'm not watching the game."_

"_Look at my face. Does it care?" Punk asked her._

"_Does it moisturise?" AJ questioned._

"_Is the queen of acne really talking to me about face blemishes?" Punk asked as AJ gasped._

"_Hey, don't talk about my acne." AJ frowned._

"_Then give me the remote." Punk said._

"_No." AJ shook her head as Punk reached over for the remote, collapsing his body weight over her to try and get the remote, but she was freakishly strong and kept the remote away from him._

"_April." Punk groaned angrily, pinning her arm above her head, reaching for the remote in her other hand as he paused for a second, realising his body was pressed right against hers, a little too closely in certain areas, growing incredibly awkward as he immediately sat back away from her._

"_Uh… fine, you can watch it." AJ shrugged, passing him the remote as he snatched it from her and turned the channel over._

"_It's a holiday weekend, aren't you going home?" Punk asked her as AJ looked at him._

"_Why do you ask me shit like that?" AJ asked him, "You know fine well that I don't want to go home. Don't make me feel like I'm not wanted here. I get enough of that with my parents." She said as he turned to her, "Your mom invited me to come out with you guys to the beach."_

"_Great." Punk said, unenthusiastically._

"_Am I really that annoying? Why do I bother you so much?" AJ asked. She really wondered why he was like this. She wasn't sure if it was just his nature or if there was really something he didn't like about her. It wasn't a good feeling, especially when she secretly thought he was cute._

"_Well all your shit takes up all the space in the bathroom shelves." Punk said, "You decided to be a vegetarian last week because you saw those horrible chicken run videos and my mom didn't make meat for a full week." He said._

"_Oh my God, Phil. How did you survive?" AJ said sarcastically as Punk glared at her._

"_You always eat my cereal." Punk said, "And you hog the TV most nights. Don't get me started on the singing in the shower." He rolled his eyes._

"_I didn't know I had an audience outside listening to me." AJ smiled a little as Punk shook his head._

"_I can hear you from my bedroom actually." Punk said._

"_Sure." AJ smiled. _

"_Your parents can't be that bad." Punk shook his head._

"_You have no idea." AJ shook her head, "I bet you if I was attacked or… killed or something tragic, they wouldn't care." She shrugged as Punk turned to her, "They'll never come to my wedding or… care about my kids, if I have any." She rolled her eyes as Punk looked at her._

"_Who is gonna marry your ass anyway?" Punk teased as AJ nodded to herself._

"_I know." AJ nodded as Punk turned to her. _

"_Hey, I'm… I'm kidding about that." Punk nodded, "It'll work out for you one day." He shrugged. He knew she was amazing, he'd never tell her or anyone for that matter, but he knew she was an incredible person._

"_You think so?" AJ asked him._

"_Yeah, of course it will." Punk nodded, "Hopefully no one tries to kill you, though." Punk laughed a little._

"_Yeah, here's hoping." AJ rolled her eyes, "At least I wouldn't be here hogging the TV every night." She smiled to him._

"_That's true." Punk nodded, turning to her and watching as she played with her hands sweetly. He turned the channel back over to what she had been watching, "So what's going on here?" He asked, sitting the remote back down as she looked up at the TV._

"_What are you doing?" AJ asked, "What about the game?"_

"_They won't win." Punk shrugged as she nodded, "This better not make me hungry." He shook his head as she smiled._

* * *

"You want to try this new flavour?" AJ asked, at the grocery store with Marty who was sat in the shopping cart on the little front seat part.

"What's that?" Marty asked.

"Juice boxes." AJ said.

"Whatever." Marty said. She really couldn't care less.

"Well let's hope your sister likes them." AJ nodded, putting them in the cart and continuing on through the store. She'd left Nadine's and decided that they needed to go to the store for some things before picking Kaia up from school, "What you fancy for dinner?" She asked her.

"Waffles." Marty nodded.

"Waffles?" AJ laughed, "You can't have waffles for dinner."

"I think I can." Marty shrugged.

"How about lasagne?" AJ thought to herself whilst looking at different things in the aisles.

"I don't think I like lasagne." Marty said.

"You liked it last week." AJ hummed, throwing some more things into the cart.

"Well I don't like it this week." Marty shook her head.

"What about chicken parm?" AJ asked her.

"Chicken nuggets?" Marty corrected with a smile.

"No, baby you can't live off chicken nuggets." AJ said.

"I think I can." Marty nodded to herself, "Can you make cookies again?"

"Did you like those ones I made?" She asked as Marty nodded.

"We all did." Marty cared to tell her.

"Ok, I'll make some." AJ smiled, brushing her hand through Marty's hair as Marty deliberately smiled like an angel, "Can you remember what daddy asked me to get him?" AJ asked.

"The stuff for under his arms." Marty nodded.

"Oh, yeah." AJ realised, knowing she meant deodorant, "What else?"

"The stuff for his hair to make it go all swoosh?" She demonstrated by pulling her hair back.

"Swoosh?" AJ laughed as Marty nodded, "Ok, I got you." She laughed as Marty nodded, swinging her legs back and forth as she watched AJ pick up some deodorant and gel.

"Mommy." Marty whispered.

"What?" AJ asked, turning to her.

"That man has been following us." Marty whispered, looking over at the man she'd noticed following them around the store.

"What?" AJ shook her head, turning around as she watched a man quickly turn his back to her.

"He's everywhere." Marty said as AJ turned back around to her. She could only assume Marty was just being dramatic, "He's staring at me." Marty said, staring back at the man angrily as AJ turned back around where the man quickly turned away and walked out of the aisle.

"Oh, he's gone now." AJ shrugged, not thinking twice about it whilst Marty folded her arms, "What?" AJ shook her head.

"Rude to stare." Marty said.

"It is." AJ agreed, "Can we figure out dinner please?" AJ asked her, walking off into the next aisle whilst Marty rhymed off all the things that she didn't want for dinner, being of course very unhelpful.


	8. Not Always Perfect

**Not Always Perfect**

* * *

"Mommy, I don't like these." Kaia pushed her juice box forward, sitting at the kitchen table with Punk and Marty, "They taste funny."

"What? I thought you'd like them." AJ turned around, "They're a new flavour."

"I like the normal ones." Kaia said as Punk took a sip out of the juice box.

"Tastes like… detergent." Punk made a face as AJ rolled her eyes.

"I forgot you liked to snack on detergent every now and then." AJ nodded, "Speaking of…" She pulled out a huge box, "Check this out, forty washes." She showed him the detergent as Punk raised his eyebrows, "If you told me I'd get excited about stuff like that-"

"April, you got excited about stuff like that before having kids." Punk reminded her as AJ turned around.

"It's forty washes, though." AJ smiled to herself as Punk just laughed, "Baby, I'll get the usual juice boxes tomorrow. I'm sorry, I thought you'd like something different."

"I like them." Marty shrugged, already finished with her juice box.

"Well at least they won't go to waste." AJ nodded happily.

"I'm finished." Kaia nodded, closing her little school books over as Punk looked at her.

"You had your stuff opened for five minutes." Punk said, "Let me see."

"No, I promise it's done." Kaia smiled.

"You promise?" Punk questioned, "You shouldn't make promises if they aren't true." He reminded her as Kaia looked at him worriedly.

"But I'm so bored." Kaia huffed, opening the books back up. She really wanted to go watch TV, or play her switch, or do anything that wasn't her homework, "I… I got to school for a long time and then… then I have to come home and do this." Kaia looked at him as AJ turned around and smiled a little.

"That's why it's called homework." Punk nodded.

"Oh." Kaia realised as Punk nodded.

"It really won't take you long." Punk assured her.

"You just do it." Kaia nodded, sliding her things over to Punk.

"No… you just do it." Punk said, sliding it back over to her whilst Marty rolled her eyes.

"You're both annoying." Marty told them truthfully, "Mommy when is dinner?" She asked.

"In a little bit." AJ said, continuing to put things away from the store.

"Daddy there was a man following me and mommy in the store today." Marty said as Punk turned to her, followed by looking over at AJ who turned around and shook her head.

"I don't think he was following us, baby." AJ shook her head.

"He was, I saw him." Marty nodded, "He was an old man. And then he was staring at me but I stared back like this." She stared angrily with her arms folded as Punk nodded slowly.

"I see." Punk said, looking over at AJ, "It's rude to stare."

"That's what I said." Marty nodded, "Didn't I, mommy?"

"You did." AJ nodded, looking over at Punk who was looking at her funnily, "Girls why don't you go into the living room, dinner won't be long." She said.

"Ok." Marty nodded, jumping off the chair and running off whilst Kaia grabbed her books and left the kitchen.

"What's with the look?" AJ asked Punk once the girls had gone.

"Someone was following you?" Punk shook his head.

"No, it was just some guy who was looking over." AJ shrugged, "You know Marty's really got my paranoia." She nodded.

"She said he was following you." Punk said.

"She also said last night that when she grows up she wants to be the tooth fairy." AJ said, balancing her hands both out, "She's three."

"I know but she isn't blind. Plus kids can be really observant, you know." Punk nodded.

"It was just some guy who was looking over and then he disappeared. He was looking at the shelves like everyone else." AJ said as Punk nodded slowly, "Why the panic?" AJ shook her head.

"Well when my kid tells me someone was following her, I don't know… I gotta question it." Punk said.

"It's fine." AJ waved her hand calmly, "How was work?" She asked him.

"Busy." Punk nodded.

"Still on the missing persons case?" AJ asked him, tidying more groceries away into the fridge and shelves.

"Yeah and not getting anywhere." Punk nodded, running his hands over his face.

"You'll get a break through." AJ nodded, "I talked to your mom about doing dinner every week. She thinks it's a good idea." She said as Punk nodded.

"Good, well we can start this week then." Punk said as AJ nodded, just as his phone began to ring. He picked it up whilst AJ continued putting some things away, "Oh, shit." Punk stood up and nodded, "Yeah, I'll be right there." He nodded as AJ turned around.

"What's going on?" AJ asked as Punk grabbed his things.

"Uh… the missing girl, they found her… she's-she's alive." Punk nodded as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Phil you've been at work since 6am. You're really gonna go back to the station?" AJ asked him. She never interfered in his job, only when she thought it was exhausting him too much and taking over his life.

"I gotta go. I won't be too late." Punk nodded, walking over and kissing her as she kissed back unenthusiastically, "Proper kiss." He looked at her. He knew she grew concerned whenever he got wrapped up in work, and sometimes she really got angry about it, but he couldn't help it.

"Why don't you just go." AJ looked up at him bluntly.

"Fine. But I'll be stealing that kiss when I get back." Punk told her as she watched him walk out of the kitchen and leave the house, sighing to herself as she turned back around.

* * *

"Where is daddy?" Kaia asked, getting into her bed whilst AJ was closing her curtains over and turning on her night light in the corner of the room.

"Daddy had to go back to work for a little while." AJ told her, walking over to the bed and helped Kaia get down under the covers. Marty had fallen asleep already on the couch earlier where AJ shifted her into her bed, but Kaia was a little more stubborn that that.

"Why?" Kaia asked her with confusion.

"Well he's got such an important job that… well sometimes he needs to back." AJ shrugged, tucking the covers over Kaia who took her owl she'd had since she was a baby and tucked him in beside her.

"So daddy is important?" Kaia asked.

"Yeah, he's very important." AJ smiled, "He protects and helps people who are in trouble." She nodded.

"Like a superhero?" Kaia asked her.

"Yeah, just like that." AJ smiled, cupping her little cheek softly, "You get some sleep, ok?" She nodded.

"Ok, mommy." Kaia nodded. Both girls were very good at going to bed. There were never any tantrums.

"I love you." AJ smiled, leaning over and kissing Kaia who turned around in her bed, hugging into her owl as AJ smiled and headed out of the room, taking one last look back as she watched Kaia closing her eyes over and stroking her owl's head. She was positive her girls were the sweetest girls.

She headed downstairs and strolled into the kitchen where Bruno, their dog, was lying in his bed. She made herself a coffee and took two of the cookies she'd baked earlier on into the living room with her. This was usually the time where she'd cuddle into Punk and they'd watch a movie or a tv show. They'd have that quality alone time that they hadn't managed to get throughout the day, and it would be perfect.

She sat for another few hours by herself watching TV. The only time she moved was to grab a blanket. She refused to fall asleep because she wanted to speak to him when he got home, which wasn't until 2am.

She rubbed her tired eyes and watched as he walked into the living room, looking on at her with confusion as he held a brown paper bag from the donut shop they always went to.

"Why are you still up?" He smiled a little.

"Why are you home so late." AJ looked at him, "You were in work at 6am this morning, Phil… you worked twenty hours." She said as Punk ran his hand through his hair.

"Don't act like I do this all the time, April." Punk shook his head.

"Actually you do." AJ corrected him, "You're exhausting yourself and it's not fair on you, it's not fair on me or the girls. They barely saw you today." She said, "I've barely saw you."

"Something came up. I had to go back." Punk said, "You know how my job works, April. You know I'd understand if you ever had to go back to work. Don't… don't make me feel like I'm doing something wrong here."

"It's constantly happening." AJ said, "Yeah, before it used to be once every now and then and that was fine, but it keeps happening and I'm sat here by myself all night. I do the girls dinner by myself, I bath them by myself, I put them to bed by myself." She said as Punk groaned.

"I think you're being a little dramatic." Punk nodded.

"Dramatic? Because I want to see more of my husband. Because I want my children to see more of their dad? I cut down my shifts so that we could work this out better and lately… lately you've been doing more." AJ said, "It's like you'd rather be there instead of here-"

"Ok, stop it." Punk nodded, "You're being ridiculous and like always, blowing something tiny way out of proportion-"

"Like always?" AJ questioned, throwing her blanket down on the couch and standing up.

"Yeah. Why can't you let me just do my job? If you aren't complaining about my hours, you're complaining about the cases I'm on or the jobs I get assigned to-"

"Because I'm worried you son of a bitch." AJ spat angrily as Punk looked across at her, "What? You think I do it because I'm bored, or I want more of your attention? No… I get worried." AJ said, "And I get worried when you spend twenty hours at the station. That's not normal-"

"I'm a cop, it comes with the job-"

"Actually, it doesn't." AJ reminded him, "You just make it come with it. You don't sleep enough, and then when it is your day off, you're on the phone with Tony or you're doing work in the kitchen-"

"April that isn't true." Punk rolled his eyes.

"It is and you know it is." AJ said furiously, "I'm never going to stop you from doing what you love, and I know that you're good at it and that sometimes a lot of danger can come with it, but this… coming home at this time of night, not seeing the girls or me for that matter… that's not what your job is."

"Oh, so I got rules then?" Punk asked her.

"No, you should just have some damn sense." AJ shook her head, "This was fine when we were dating and it was just the two of us and-"

"And you were a lot less shrill." Punk nodded.

"Excuse me?" AJ screwed her eyes up, which Punk knew was a sign of her anger. He didn't mean to be arguing back or fighting with her, he just felt like his back was up against the wall.

"It's too late for this and I'm too tired-"

"And whose fault is that?" AJ asked, "You were supposed to finished at 5pm."

"Well things happen and things change, April." Punk said, "Step off my neck for Christ sake." He shook his head as AJ looked across at him.

"You can sleep downstairs tonight." AJ shook her head.

"No, I'm not." Punk refused, "I'm sleeping in my fucking bed." He told her, "None of this couch bullshit. You don't wanna sleep next to me? You stay down here then." He nodded as she looked across at him. At times she saw glimpses of the boy she grew up hating, the boy she grew up with teasing her, teasing other people, and she hated it.

"Fine. I'll sleep down here." AJ spat as Punk looked across at her.

"So dumb." Punk shook his head as AJ looked at him, sitting back down on the couch and lying down with the blanket, "Seriously? You're gonna sleep there?" He questioned.

"Get out." AJ warned him as Punk looked over at her, putting his hands on his hips.

"Suit your fucking self." Punk shook his head, "Brought you home a donut." He said, throwing the bag over onto the coffee table and watching as she ignored him and avoided eye contact, "So childish."

"Get out!" AJ yelled loudly as Punk jumped a little. She hated that he always had to have the last word, no matter what the fight was about, he'd always make sure he got his words in before leaving and she hated it.

Punk just shook his head at her and left the living room, sighing to himself with disappointment as he walked up the stairs whilst AJ rested her head back on the cushion, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to pour out. They didn't normally fight, but when they did she absolutely hated it.


	9. Fight To Make Up

**Fight To Make Up**

* * *

AJ had woken up pretty early the next morning. She didn't really sleep much, thinking about her fight with Punk, and also because she was sleeping on the couch. She headed upstairs to shower and noticed Punk was already in. If it was any other day, she would have stepped into the shower with him, but she refused to have that attention from him when they had been fighting, so she waited outside the bathroom.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and waited until he eventually came out, completely naked as she rolled her eyes and stood up.

"No wonder our water bill is through the roof." AJ shook her head, pushing by him as Punk made a face behind her back as she shut the door over.

He rolled his eyes and put his uniform on, getting ready for work. AJ had a few days off which meant he only need to wake Kaia up for school and drop her off on the way to work.

He headed into the five year old's bedroom, walking over to her bed and sitting down on the edge, "Time to open the eyes." Punk rubbed her arm gently, not startling her too much. Waking her up was definitely a gradual thing.

"No." Kaia kicked him and turned around in bed.

"Yes." Punk nodded, taking her owl and sitting it on her head to annoy her as Kaia pushed his hand away, "Come on, Benjamin wants you to wake up." He said.

"No, Benjamin." Kaia mumbled, still keeping her eyes closed as Punk stood up and walked over to the curtains, pulling them open wide.

"Nice day." Punk observed, switching her night light off and picking out some clothes for her, "Overalls or jeans?" Punk asked her as he went through her little clothes in the closet. Kaia didn't reply to him so he picked for her, "Overalls it is." Punk nodded, "Spots or stripes underneath?" He asked her as Kaia began to wake up a little more, lying awake looking at him.

"Stripes." Kaia concluded as Punk nodded, tossing it over with her overalls, "And my red converse to match with my t-shirt." She sat up as Punk nodded, grabbing her converse from underneath.

"Ok, mommy's in the shower but when she's out you can go in." Punk nodded, "Do your teeth and your face." He told her as she rubbed her eyes and nodded, "What you want for breakfast?" He asked her.

"Pancakes?" Kaia smiled.

"I don't think…" He paused, looking at the time on his phone, realising he actually did have time to make some pancakes, "Ah to hell with it." Punk nodded, "Pancakes it is." He said as Kaia cheered, "Ok, don't lay back down or you'll fall asleep." He said.

"I won't." Kaia insisted, sitting up in her bed as Punk disappeared back into he and AJ's bedroom where AJ had finished with her shower, walking out completely naked as he watched her.

"Stare a little harder." AJ nodded to him as Punk rolled his eyes, minding his own business whilst she got her clothes on and fixed her hair, "Did you wake Kaia?"

"Yeah. I'm going to make her pancakes. Just make sure she gets up and gets ready." Punk said, leaving the bedroom as AJ watched him.

Things eventually moved downstairs. Marty had woken up to get in on some of the pancake action whilst AJ fixed Kaia's lunch for her, not speaking one word to her husband. She knew they were both too proud and stubborn to say anything.

"Can you move please?" AJ asked Punk who was standing in front of the fridge.

Punk moved forward to let her into the fridge as she grabbed out some things for Kaia. He flipped the pancakes and gave them to the girls whilst handing them over some chocolate spread and other toppings.

"Uh… not too much chocolate spread on the pancakes, please." AJ nodded to the girls as Punk looked at her as she glared back. He opened up the chocolate spread for them and grabbed a large spoon as AJ watched.

Kaia raised her eyebrows as she watched her father dump the biggest load of chocolate spread onto her pancake, keeping his eyes on AJ the entire time. He then gave Marty the same amount and smiled to himself, screwing the lid back on as AJ glared at him and shook her head. His childishness never surprised her.

"Uh…" Kaia didn't know what to say or do.

"This is so cool." Marty smiled happily as Punk nodded.

"You want them to get a tummy ache, is that it?" AJ looked at Punk.

"Let them eat what they want." Punk told her as AJ shook her head angrily, packing up Kaia's lunch and putting it into her backpack before walking out of the kitchen. She refused to fight with him in front of the girls.

Punk shortly followed after, walking into the living room where she was standing.

"Why are you being so childish?" AJ questioned.

"You were the one who slept down here all night." Punk said, "You could have just came up and we could have talked-"

"I wasn't talking to you when you were like that." AJ refused.

"Like what?" Punk screwed his eyes up.

"Like you were eighteen years old and wanted me to get out of your house." AJ spat as Punk looked across at her. He hated that he made her feel that way, but part of him felt justified after she attacked him so quickly about his work.

"You're so ridiculous." Punk rolled his eyes.

"Is that all you have to say?" AJ shook her head.

"Yeah, well I got nothing else." Punk said, "You started this. You figure out how to finish it-" He began to walk away as she pulled him back.

"I didn't start shit, Phil." AJ spat, "I was concerned for you. What is so wrong with that?"

"Well how about you try being concerned with a little more understanding to my job. Sometimes I gotta be at the station all day and night. I'm in charge of people's lives at times, and their safety." He said, "I never went home when I was on your case seven years ago. And you know what happened because of that? I saved your damn life." Punk said as AJ shook her head.

"There's no excuse for working twenty hours in a day. I don't care." AJ said, "The girls barely saw you. That's exactly what we both didn't want-"

"Well sometimes things happen, April. We can't be perfect all the time." Punk reminded her, "You're just making a big deal out of nothing."

"Oh, yeah… like I always do?" AJ nodded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed smugly as AJ shook her head.

"Just get out of my sight." AJ glared at him.

"Gladly." Punk nodded, walking by her and out of the living room as AJ folded her arms and shook her head.

* * *

"It's not like you guys to fight." Dean said, sitting at his desk whilst Punk sat across from him at his own. He had to vent to someone about his fight with his wife.

"Yeah, I know. That's why it's so annoying when we do." Punk said, "And it's always over the same nonsense." He shook his head

"What was it over this time?" Dean asked.

"Me working too much." Punk nodded, "And look I get it, I know why she's upset and concerned but… this is my job, what am I supposed to do? We found that girl last night and I spent all night interviewing her. I can't neglect shit like that. I have to be here." Punk said.

"I know but you gotta remember that it's not just you and April anymore. She's probably worried about the kids not seeing you enough, that's all. And spending twenty hours at this place is just… well it's a little ridiculous." Dean nodded.

"It's not like I do that every night. I genuinely had to be here." Punk said, "I mean I would never question her if she had to stay late at her work-"

"I bet she doesn't, though." Dean said as Punk sighed to himself.

"Can't all be perfect like her." Punk groaned as Dean turned to him.

"Would you stop it? You're so childish." Dean shook his head.

"You sound like her." Punk said.

"Yeah, exactly. She has a point. You get all mean and nasty when you fight with people. Don't be like that with her because she cares." Dean said as Punk looked across at him, "I know you got a lot going on right now, with your mom and with work but… April should be your escape from it all." He reminded him as Punk sighed to himself.

"She is." Punk nodded.

"Then quit fighting over stupid things." Dean shook his head, "Apologise and forget about it all."

"Why am I the one apologising?" Punk shook his head.

"Because she was obviously upset. And you made her sleep on the couch-"

"Uh no, I didn't make her do anything. I just told her I wasn't sleeping on the couch." Punk said, "So she decided to sleep on it-"

"You're both as annoying as each other if I'm being honest." Dean nodded, "Just go make up." He rolled his eyes, standing up and taking some of his files to the copier as Punk sat at his desk, looking on at the picture of AJ in a frame beside one of Kaia and Marty.

* * *

"We got pancakes for breakfast and now a McDonalds?" Kaia gasped, hopping out of the car with her happy meal whilst AJ helped Marty. She'd gone to pick up Kaia from school with Marty and considering she really couldn't be bothered making dinner when they got home, she decided to just pick up some fast food on the way home.

"Yeah, don't get used to it." AJ nodded, walking to the front door of their house and opening it up, "Go sit up at the table and have it." AJ told them, walking into the house and closing the door over.

"I love chicken nuggets." Marty smiled, running into the kitchen and sitting up at the table, "What toy do you have?" She asked her sister who joined her at the table.

"I have Duke." Kaia smiled, "From the pet movie." She showed her sister.

"I have snowball!" Marty smiled, opening up her toy as AJ walked into the kitchen, "Mommy, look." She showed her mother.

"Oh, wow." AJ smiled, "Are these from that new pet movie?" AJ asked them.

"Yeah." Kaia nodded, opening up her burger.

"Can I have ketchup please?" Marty asked.

"Yeah, baby. Here." AJ passed down the ketchup just as there was a knock at the door, "No fighting." She told them.

"I can't fight when I have chicken nuggets." Marty said as AJ smiled, leaving the kitchen and walking down the hall to the front door, opening it up where she saw no one was actually there.

She stepped out of the door and looked around the street with confusion, shaking her head and walking back into the house, through to the kitchen.

"Who was it?" Kaia asked.

"Uh… no one." AJ laughed to herself.

"No one?" Marty questioned with confusion.

"Yeah, maybe it wasn't the door." AJ said, doubting what she heard.

"No, I heard the door, mommy." Kaia nodded.

"Well maybe the person changed their minds." AJ said, running her hand through Kaia's hair, "You guys enjoying that?" She smiled.

"Yes." Marty said immediately whilst Kaia nodded, just as the front door opened. AJ turned around immediately, looking down the hallway and noticing it was Punk.

"Who's that?" Kaia gasped.

"It's just daddy." AJ said, noticing Punk was holding a bunch of flowers, sighing to herself.

"Daddy, come here!" Marty demanded loudly as Punk looked down the hallway. He sat the flowers down against the stairs and walked through to the kitchen.

"Hey, what's this? McDonald's?" Punk stole one of Marty's fries.

"Mommy said she didn't want to cook." Kaia explained as Punk nodded, turning to AJ who wasn't making eye contact with him.

"I see." Punk nodded, "Well what are the toys?" He asked.

"From secret life of pets." Kaia said as Punk nodded.

"Well how was school?" Punk asked Kaia.

"School was fine." Kaia said casually as Punk nodded.

"What'd you get up to today?" Punk asked Marty.

"Went shopping with mommy. She got me new jumpers." Marty said, "And then we stopped and… and mommy had a coffee and I had a Capri Sun." She informed them all.

"Sounds nice." Punk nodded, turning to AJ who still wasn't looking at him, "Hey can I talk to you?" He asked as AJ looked at him and nodded.

They both left the kitchen, walking down the hall back to the doorway as Punk picked up the flowers and handed them to her.

"What's this?" AJ sighed.

"For you." Punk nodded, "I'm sorry." He said as she took the flowers from him slowly, "I know my job can be a bitch. But… it is my job. I know you're only concerned about me and trust me, I know that working twenty hours in a day isn't healthy, I get it." He said, "So… I promise that won't happen again. And no more working from home either-"

"Phil, you've promised me this before." AJ sighed to herself.

"I know, and I'm an ass for not doing it." He said, "But I promise this time, for real. It stops now." He said as she nodded, "And I'm sorry for being so horrible. I shouldn't have let you sleep down here-"

"No, that's not your fault. I was just… in a mood." AJ nodded, "And I wasn't the sweetest to you either." She said, "I hate it when we fight." She frowned as he nodded.

"I do too." Punk agreed, "You doing anything this weekend?" Punk smiled as she looked up at him.

"No." AJ said suspiciously with a small smile.

"Well I managed to convince Dean to look after the girls so we can get a night away." He said as AJ smiled and nodded slowly.

"That'd be really nice." AJ whispered. Sometimes every day stress just built up to the point where they were arguing over ridiculous things. She hated fighting with him, but no matter what, she always knew they were good.

"Yeah?" Punk nodded as she smiled, "Ok." He said, leaning forward and kissing her sweetly. Sometimes the fighting helped them realise the important of each other. It brought them back closer together.

"Oh, did you… knock the door before you came in?" AJ asked him, pulling back.

"Knock the door to my own house?" Punk asked with confusion.

"Well yeah there was a knock at the door and when I went to see who it was… no one was there." AJ shrugged as Punk shook his head with confusion, "Oh, it probably wasn't even the door." She shook her head, "These are beautiful, I'm gonna go put them in a vase." She smiled as Punk nodded.


	10. Rude To Stare

**Rude To Stare**

* * *

"Why have you taken us here?" Marty asked, holding onto Dean's hand whilst Kaia held onto his other, walking through the police station.

"Ok, well I have a little bit of work to do, so you guys are just gonna… I don't know, sit and play at your dad's desk." Dean said. He didn't want to let Punk down by telling him he had work to do and couldn't babysit the kids, so he decided to just bring them with him. It wasn't like it was much trouble.

"Cool." Kaia smiled, looking around the precinct, "We never get to visit daddy's work." She said.

"Yeah, well… let's keep this a secret." Dean nodded to them, "Don't tell your mommy or your daddy that you came here. It can be our secret." He nodded to them both.

"I like secrets." Marty smiled, "Is this daddy's desk?" She ran over, jumping up on the chair first before Kaia got a chance, "Oh, look… there's me." She reached over the desk and picked the frame up of her and her sister, "And mommy." She noticed another frame, stroking the pictures sweetly whilst Kaia walked over.

"Is this where daddy works?" Kaia asked Dean who got her another chair to sit on whilst he sat across on his own desk.

"Yeah, that's where he does some work sometimes." Dean nodded.

"Cool." Kaia nodded, opening up the drawers as her and Marty began to look around the desk curiously.

"Hey, what are you munchkins doing here?" Tony noticed the girls and walked over to them.

"We're here with uncle Dean." Kaia told him as Tony looked over to Dean.

"Mhm, I see." Tony nodded, walking further over to Dean's desk, "Phil doesn't know about this, does he?"

"No and I'd like to keep it that way." Dean made clear as Tony laughed a little, "He wanted me to babysit them and… and he needs a break so I didn't want to say no." He shrugged as Tony nodded.

"Well as long as you keep them up here and not anywhere near the interviewing rooms." Tony said.

"Well duh." Dean nodded, "They'll be fine. Look." He nodded as Tony turned around and watched as Kaia was playing with an elastic band ball whilst Marty was making paper aeroplanes it appeared.

"I'm sure they will." Tony nodded, "I really wouldn't tell Phil about this, though."

"Yeah, well obviously not." Dean shook his head, "He barely even lets AJ come here." He said, "That'll be my own funeral if he finds out." He groaned.

"Mhm." Tony agreed, "Girls do you want some lunch?" He asked them.

"Oh, yes please." Marty nodded, "Do you have chicken nuggets?" She wondered as Dean turned around and shook his head.

"Uh… no, we have sandwiches and coffee-"

"They can't have coffee." Dean interrupted.

"Yeah, coffee!" Kaia cheered, "That's what mommy drinks in the morning." She let them know.

"What kind of sandwiches?" Marty asked, "I'd rather chicken nuggets." She mumbled.

"You always eat them." Kaia turned to her sister.

"Because I like them, Kaia." Marty shook her head with frustration as Kaia rolled her eyes.

"Ok, how about I go out and get you both some lunch then?" Tony asked them.

"You never go out and get me and Phil lunch." Dean looked up at him.

"Because you both annoy me." Tony told him honestly.

"Give them both an hour." He nodded to the girls who had gotten their hands on a stapler, stapling pieces of paper together.

"Surprise us." Kaia told Tony who nodded slowly.

"Get me something while you're at it." Dean nodded to him as Tony groaned, regretting his suggestion as he walked off to leave the station, "Hey, minions." He got the girls attention as they turned around, "You wanna help me with something?"

"Yes!" Kaia smiled excitedly, jumping off the chair and running over to his desk whilst Marty took a little more time to get down.

"How would you two like to be my new shredders?" He smiled, grabbing a huge load of useless paper work he had sitting around his desk as Kaia raised her eyebrows.

"What's a shredder?" Marty wondered.

"Let me show you." Dean nodded, turning around to the shredder behind him, switching it on and grabbing a piece of paper, putting it through the shredder as Marty and Kaia looked on with fascination.

"Woah." Kaia gasped.

"I wanna be a shredder!" Marty exclaimed as Dean chuckled to himself. It wasn't so hard to babysit and keep them entertained.

* * *

"Oh, wow. This is so nice." AJ smiled, walking into their hotel room. They'd drove a little out of town to get to the hotel they were staying at. They felt fortunate enough that they could have time away together like this. With all the stress with work, family problems, the kids and everything in between, this was definitely needed.

"Complimentary water? How sweet." Punk walked over to the table which had some bottles of water.

"Surprised the receptionist didn't send it up especially for you." AJ smiled.

"What?" Punk laughed.

"She was very flirty." AJ nodded.

"No she wasn't. She was just being nice." Punk laughed, walking over to her, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"She didn't look at me once." AJ scoffed, "Like hello." She wiggled her rings at him as he nodded.

"When was the last time we got to do this?" He asked her as she sat down beside him.

"Too long ago." AJ concluded as Punk nodded, "Part of me does sometimes feel guilty, you know… for leaving the girls." She nodded, "I know I've been like that since they were babies but… I just don't want them to grow up thinking that we need a break from them." She laughed a little.

"Well let's be honest, sometimes we do." Punk nodded as she looked at him, "It's not cause they're difficult kids or anything, they're literally angels." He said, "But between them and our jobs, we deserve this." He said as she nodded.

"Oh, I know we do." AJ assured him, placing her hand on his lap, "I wonder how Dean is with the girls."

"Dean's pretty good with them." Punk nodded.

"Yeah and they love him." AJ nodded, "They probably have a ton of fun without us." AJ laughed to herself, "Did you tell your mom that we were away? Just in case you know… anything happens and she tries to call-"

"I told her." Punk nodded, "If anything does happen, Seth is there." He said.

"I can't believe her surgery is next week." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah." Punk said, "I think she just wants it over with."

"Yeah I don't blame her." AJ nodded, turning to him and noticing that worried look on his face, "Let's just enjoy our night." She said, kissing his cheek as he turned to her, "Life can resume tomorrow." She said as he nodded and smiled, leaning forward and kissing her softly.

* * *

"Did you guys have fun today?" Dean asked, helping the girls into his car to take them home with him.

"I was the best shredder." Kaia smiled.

"Hey, I was good too." Marty said as Dean helped her with her seatbelt in the back of the car.

"Remember we're not telling your mommy or daddy about this. If they ask, we… we went to the park." Dean said.

"You shouldn't lie. Not to mommy or daddy." Marty narrowed her eyebrows to Dean, unhappy.

"I know, we shouldn't you're right, but this lie isn't hurting anybody. It's a one off." He nodded to them both as Marty gasped for a moment.

"There's the man." Marty whispered as Dean looked at her.

"Huh?" Dean shook his head.

"The man that was following mommy and me." Marty said, swinging her legs back and forth nervously as Dean turned around, getting out from leaning in the car and looking over to where an older man was standing outside a shop window, turning around immediately when he saw Dean notice him, "He's everywhere." Marty said as Dean turned back to her.

"When was he following you?" Dean asked curiously.

"Uh I don't know, when me and mommy were at the store, days ago." Marty estimated, "He was following us and staring." Marty said as Dean nodded slowly, looking back over to the store window where it appeared the man had disappeared.

"Was he looking at you just now?" Dean wondered.

"Yes." Marty nodded as Dean looked at her. It worried him to know this information. He could understand why AJ would have dismissed it the first time, but for this man to appear a second time, it concerned him very much.

"Ok, well don't you worry about him. He's probably just from around here." Dean nodded. Of course he didn't want her to be scared or worried, especially not at such a young age, but it definitely concerned him.

"Maybe he's staring because you're staring." Kaia glared at her sister, "She stares at everyone." She told Dean.

"Hey, no I don't." Marty defended, "He was staring at me first." She frowned.

"Ok, just forget about him." Dean advised, "Who is ready for a movie when we get back?" He asked them, eventually closing the back door and getting into the front to drive home.

"Me, I'd like to pick the movie." Kaia said.

"It has to be something we all like." Marty made clear as Dean laughed to himself, listening to them both argue in the back as he began to drive, stopping the car when he saw the man behind the corner which Marty had pointed out to him, as if he was waiting to watch them drive off.

Dean turned the car engine off and got out of the car, watching as the man immediately began to walk away down the street. He shook his head and got back in behind the wheel. What was haunting him the most was that for some reason, he recognised his face.

* * *

"Oh, we uh… we didn't order champagne." AJ shook her head, standing at the door of the hotel room where a waiter had come up with strawberries and champagne.

"Oh, my apologise." He nodded.

"No, wait… we… we ordered the strawberries, just not the champagne." AJ said.

"Oh, I see… it's sort of a… one doesn't come without the other deal here." He laughed as AJ raised her eyebrows, "It's the full package, if you know what I mean." He smiled, looking further down AJ's body as she immediately closed the door over a little to cover herself.

"Mhm ok." AJ nodded, reaching out and taking the champagne and strawberries, "Well thank you." She said uncomfortably, closing the door with her foot and walking over to the bed whilst Punk came out from the bathroom in just his boxers.

"Hey, what's this?" Punk asked.

"Well it was going to be a surprise." She said.

"You know me, I love champagne." Punk nodded sarcastically.

"I didn't order the champagne, it just comes with it, I don't know." AJ shrugged, "We can take it home for someone." She waved her hand as Punk just nodded, "You stay out here." She smiled, brushing past him and escaping into the bathroom as he smiled to himself.

They'd had a nice night at dinner, casting all their everyday problems away and enjoying the relaxation. But as always, they were eager to get back to the room.

Punk sat the champagne over before sitting up on the bed against the headboard, taking the strawberries and sitting them beside him as he quickly stole one before AJ could see. He then heard the bathroom door open, looking down at the strawberries, "White sheets isn't really ideal for these-" He turned around, pausing when he saw her standing in a black lacey teddy. He bit his fist as she laughed to herself.

"You like?" She smiled as he nodded right away, causing her to laugh, walking over to him and climbing over his body, sitting on his thighs, straddling over him.

"You uh… You don't wanna eat these first?" Punk raised a brow.

"Yeah, I'm gonna eat them here." AJ nodded, slowly grinding herself back and forth on him before reaching a strawberry, "You first." She whispered, feeding him the strawberry, waiting for him to finish before kissing him passionately, deepening the kiss as she moved her centre against his length below her.

"You're a tease." Punk whispered against her mouth.

"I am?" AJ questioned with a smile.

"Mhm." Punk nodded, reaching for a strawberry and moving it to her mouth as she took a bite, some of the juice spilling onto Punk's stomach.

"Oops." AJ smiled as Punk went to wipe it, "Wait." She said as he watched her lean down, licking it off and looking up at him as he smiled. She kissed her way back up his chest, meeting his lips and kissing him deeply, sliding her teddy down to reveal her breasts, leaning back and reaching for another strawberry as he watched her.

"Evil." Punk smiled as AJ nodded, cupping her breast with one hand whilst eating the strawberry out of her other one, "I'm good for the rest of the night." He nodded, putting his hands behind his head and watching her as she smiled.

"Oh, really?" AJ asked, "Because I had other plans." AJ said.

"Well what were they?" Punk asked.

"Well I can show you." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, leaning her face forward to his, "But if you're good just watching, that's fine too."

"I can do both." Punk assured her as she smiled, kissing him deeply, feeling his tongue battle with hers as things began to get hot and steamy.


	11. Distraction

**Distraction**

* * *

"Mommy! Daddy!" Marty ran into her house, dropping Dean's hand as she found her parents in the living room whilst Kaia followed behind.

"Oh, hi puddin." AJ smiled happily, crouching down and squeezing Marty tightly whilst Punk said hello to Kaia, switching around whilst Dean walked into the room.

"Did you have fun with Uncle Dean?" Punk asked them.

"Lots of fun." Kaia bounced up and down excitedly as Punk smiled.

"I missed you, daddy." Marty said, hugging into Punk's legs as Punk chuckled and nodded.

"I missed you too, sweetheart." Punk smiled, crouching down and hugging her sweetly as Marty jumped on him, circling her arms and legs around him like a little koala bear, "We were only gone one night." He laughed to himself.

"Too long." Marty concluded.

"Hey, does that mean you didn't have fun with me?" Dean asked.

"No, but I just missed my daddy." Marty told him as Dean smiled and nodded.

"What did you guys get up to?" AJ asked, "What'd you have for dinner?"

"Pizza." Kaia smiled, "And we watched Trolls." She nodded.

"For the nine hundredth time?" Punk figured.

"I liked it." Dean admitted truthfully.

"Of course you did." Punk nodded to himself.

"You mind if I talk to you both?" Dean asked them as Punk and AJ looked at each other a little worriedly.

"Uh… sure." AJ nodded, "Girls why don't you take your bags and jackets upstairs." She said as they both grabbed their things and ran off, "What's wrong?" AJ asked immediately once the girls were out of sight.

"Well, I was putting them in the car… we had uh… we picked up a pizza." He lied, not mentioning the fact he was leaving the police station with them, "So I'm strapped Marty in and she says, there's that man again." He said, "So I turn around and there's this older guy standing and as soon as I clock eyes with him, he turns around. Marty then told me that he had been following you in the store a few days ago?" Dean looked at AJ.

"Well… she said there was but I never… I never saw anyone following us. And then she said that he was staring and I… I turned around and he left." AJ said, "It was the same guy?" She asked, getting a funny, sick feeling in her stomach.

"Yeah, according to Marty. I know it's hard to take a three year old's word but she was adamant that it was him. So I got in the car, told her not to pay attention, and when I drove on, he was standing behind the corner, like he was waiting to watch us drive away. I stopped and got out and he started walking the opposite direction again." Dean said, "The annoying thing is… I recognise his face." He sighed to himself, "From something, I don't know what."

"You really think he was staring right at you-"

"He was staring at the kids." Dean sighed as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "And it wasn't just some creepy drunk guy or anything, he was staring right at them-"

"And if he was following me in the store too-" AJ placed her hand on her chest, "Why-Why would someone be following us? Following the children?" AJ shook her head.

"I have no idea." Dean said, "Something I think we should maybe look into." He suggested.

"Yeah." Punk agreed, "Who the hell would be following you, though?" Punk turned to AJ, "Or the kids?"

"I-I don't know." AJ shook her head. It wasn't like she had enemies or people on her case. There was no reason for anyone to be watching her movement.

"You really didn't recognise him?" Punk asked Dean. It was worrying to hear that this same man had showed up again, staring at his children, it scared him and it worried him.

"That's the thing, I did. I do recognise him, it's vague but I've seen his face before." Dean nodded, "I'm sure of it."

"Describe him to me." Punk said.

"He's about sixty, grey hair, kinda stocky, medium height-"

"Well that's useless." Punk realised as Dean nodded, "What about checking the CCTV in the store from the other day?" He wondered, "When were you there?"

"Tuesday." AJ said, "Around 2pm." AJ nodded.

"Good idea." Dean nodded, "Don't worry about it-"

"Me and my children have a stalker. I'm gonna worry." AJ shook her head, sitting down on the couch and running her hands through her hair. She wasn't worried for her, she was worried for her children. She didn't want anyone scaring them or watching them. It was a horrifying feeling.

"Dean is right, let's not jump the gun." Punk nodded. He was also concerned but he knew he had to keep his wife sane and make sure she wasn't worrying, "We'll take a look at the CCTV and see if we can get a name to a face." He said, "Maybe I'll recognise him."

"Maybe." Dean nodded, "Apart from that, we had a good time." He said, trying to lighten the conversation back up as AJ sighed to herself, "Did you guys have a nice time?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was good." Punk nodded, looking to AJ who wasn't paying attention, he nodded to Dean who figured it was best to leave them be. He knew AJ was a worrier anyway, so he couldn't imagine how scared she must have been.

"Well, I'll see you at work." Dean nodded to Punk, "I'll see you later, April." He nodded as AJ smiled and nodded to him, watching as he left the living room.

"I thought Marty was just being dramatic. I told her that he wasn't staring and to… to not pay attention, but he was… he was following us and looking at her and I… I didn't do anything about it." AJ shook her head sadly as Punk sat down beside her.

"Hey, this isn't your fault. We'll find this guy and we'll see what his deal is. Please don't be scared." He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her head.

"They're so little." AJ shook her head, "Why would anyone want to… harass them or stare at them, stalk them." AJ rolled her eyes.

"There's some… strange people out there." Punk nodded, "But this might just be a coincidence-"

"Do you really think so?" AJ sighed as Punk looked at her. He didn't think it was a coincidence because it just seemed so unlikely, "I didn't think so." AJ said, telling by the look on his face, "Why does crime follow me and my kids everywhere?" AJ shook her head.

"Look, we have no idea what's going on here. You know I'd never let anything happen to you or the girls." He nodded, "We'll find out who he is and he won't be a problem anymore." He said as AJ nodded, "Ok?" He looked at her as she looked up and nodded.

"I just don't want anyone scaring the girls." AJ shook her head, "Stalk me, I don't care, but… not them." AJ sighed.

"Hey, no stalking anyone." Punk said angrily, "No one should have to put with someone disturbing like that. We'll sort it out." He nodded as AJ rested her head on his shoulder. No matter what, she always felt safe and protected by him. After the lengths she saw him go to seven years ago when her life almost came to an end, she knew he was always going to be her safe place, and so were their girls.

"I've put my things away!" Kaia exclaimed, running into the living room.

"And I have." Marty followed as Punk smiled.

"Ok, who wants some lunch?" Punk asked, "Huh?" He stood up, picking them up and lifting them over his shoulder as they giggled, banging their little fists off his back as AJ watched with a smile, watching as he carried them out into the kitchen.

* * *

"Hey, are you ok?" Punk asked, later that night, sitting on the couch with AJ curled into him, watching some TV whilst the girls sat on the other couch. Kaia had her headphones on, playing with her switch whilst Marty was lying fast asleep.

"I'd go out of my mind if anything happened to them." AJ said quietly, looking over at the girls as Punk nodded.

"Nothing is going to happen to them." Punk shook his head, it was a promise he didn't throw around lightly. He would have put his own life on the line to protect his family. Nothing was going to happen to them.

"Remember when they were really small?" AJ sighed to herself as Punk laughed a little.

"April, they're still really small." He nodded.

"I know but… when they were babies." AJ said, looking over at the girls, "When Marty was a baby and Kaia was just two. They were so little." She frowned as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, it's weird to have conversations with them now." Punk laughed a little, playing with her hair as AJ nodded, "You want another baby?" He wondered as AJ stayed quiet, "Ape?"

"Yeah, I think so." AJ nodded, "Not right now but… maybe in a couple years." She said, looking up at him, "Something you'd be interested in?" She smiled.

"Of course I would." Punk smiled, kissing her head, "To make another little angel? I'm in." He nodded as AJ smiled. He could tell by the way she was talking that she was thinking about another baby.

"It'd be nice to have a big family too." AJ nodded, "I mean I grew up with no siblings."

"I grew up with Seth. I really don't know what's worse." He shook his head as AJ slapped him.

"That's my best friend you're talking about." She warned as Punk laughed a little, "The closest thing I had to family was always you and Seth, and your mom." She nodded, "I don't want my kids to have to look elsewhere for family when we're here and we can love them-"

"Hey, they'll never have to do that." Punk assured her, "Those kids are gonna fed up of all the love we're giving." He said as AJ smiled.

"You know what I love?" AJ looked up at him.

"What?" Punk looked at her.

"How you turn into a big teddy bear with them." AJ smiled as Punk laughed a little.

"I do?" Punk questioned.

"Oh, yeah." AJ nodded, "I grew up with you being the snarky, smug little… punk that you are, you're so soft with them and sweet."

"Did you expect me to be mean to them?" Punk laughed to himself.

"Well no but… you're just really sweet, it's hard not to want another one with you." She said.

"It's true, I am irresistible." Punk teased as AJ laughed.

"Don't get cocky." She warned as he smiled and nodded.

"You aren't so evil either." He said.

"How sweet of you to say." AJ nodded, looking over at the girls, "I just… I hope they're always happy." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Punk nodded with a smile. He was glad her mind wasn't on the creepy man who had been following them. He didn't want her to worry about it, "Hey, are you sure you really want another baby? I mean… when you had Marty you were in labour for like three days." He shook his head.

"Yeah, that wasn't fun." AJ shook her head.

* * *

"_Everyone just stay away." AJ said, standing up and placing her hands at the bottom of the bed in the hospital room, doubling over as she felt another contraction taking over her. Punk was sat over on the chair, feeling pretty helpless whilst Seth had come to keep them company._

"_Nice view from this floor." Seth looked out the window as Punk turned to him._

"_Phil, come here." AJ whined painfully as Punk stood up, walking over to her as she took his hands and leaned her forehead against his chest, breathing through the contraction._

"_It'll pass, it'll pass. Just keep breathing. In and out." Punk nodded as AJ tried to focus on his voice._

"_This looks exhausting." Seth spectated as AJ looked up and over at him._

"_Care to take my place?!" AJ snapped as Seth raised his eyebrows and put his hands up with defence, "That was a bad one." AJ sighed, walking around the bed to get back in. She'd been in labour for over a day at this point. Her doctor just insisted that things were just moving along very, very slowly. _

"_I don't get it. What's actually happening right now? Like is it coming out right now?" Seth asked as AJ and Punk looked at him._

"_No, it's not coming out right now." Punk shook his head, "Idiot."_

"_Then why are you in so much pain?" Seth shook his head._

"_Because my entire cervix is opening up, you idiot." AJ spat as Seth nodded slowly. She was tired, sore and running out of patience. Fortunately, she had Punk and Seth to take her emotions out on, and they of course let her._

"_Oh." Seth nodded, "Is that like… what's that? Like the womb and stuff?" He asked._

"_Come here." AJ wiggled her finger._

"_You're not showing me anything, are you?" Seth said hesitantly._

"_No, come here." AJ nodded as Seth walked around the bed, "Closer." AJ said as Seth got closer, only to receive a slap on the face as Punk raised his eyebrows, "That's for being stupid." She turned around on her side as Seth held his face._

"_Hey, I'm not your punching bag." Seth moaned, "That was so painful."_

"_Really?" AJ glared at him, "You wanna talk to me about pain?"_

"_Hey, slap me, baby. I don't mind." Punk took her hand in his._

"_No, I love you." AJ sighed with emotion as Punk smiled._

"_You know, maybe I'll just leave." Seth rolled his eyes._

"_No, don't. No, stay." AJ nodded, "Sorry, I… this is just taking too long." She sighed whilst Punk rubbed her hip, doing whatever he really could to make her at least comfortable._

"_Let's see how we're doing, April." Janus walked into the room, her doctor for both pregnancies, as AJ nodded and turned around, sitting up on the bed whilst her doctor checked her progress._

"_I gotta be like… eight or nine, right? Maybe ten." AJ said with hope as Doctor Jones smiled sadly._

"_You're four." Janus nodded as AJ rolled her head back onto the pillow._

"_Can't you just push it open?" AJ cried to herself._

"_Things are moving along, just… extremely slowly." Janus said, "You're doing great."_

"_Yeah yeah." AJ shook her head._

"_I'll be back soon to check on you." Janus said._

"_I'll probably be three when you come back." AJ sighed as Janus left the room, "How can I be four? I… I should be ten."_

"_I know." Punk frowned, rubbing her arm softly._

"_How big is ten?" Seth asked, "I mean it's gotta be pretty big for a baby to come out of." He said as Punk groaned to himself. It was like having a child in the room with them. He was making them laugh at times, and he knew Seth was only trying to distract AJ and make her laugh, but some things really weren't helping._

"_Hey, kid promise when you and Becky are doing this… don't be this annoying." Punk nodded._

"_It's a genuine question." Seth defended._

"_This big." AJ showed him the measurement with her two hands._

"_The female body is whack." Seth shook his head, "Y'all just spring back to normal after it too." He nodded, "It's all pretty impressive."_

"_I'm glad you think so." AJ shook her head, getting out of bed._

"_Where you going?" Punk asked._

"_To pee." AJ sighed, walking ahead to the toilet as Punk stood up and fixed AJ's pillows and sheets in the bed._

"_Be honest, how thankful are you that you're a dude." Seth nodded to Punk._

"_I'd do this part if it meant AJ wasn't in pain, believe me." Punk nodded._

"_Really?" Seth raised his eyebrows as Punk nodded._

"_Once you see it for yourself, and it's your own kid, you'll understand a little more." Punk said._

"_You nervous?" Seth asked him._

"_Of course I am. I guess more excited than nervous." Punk nodded, "At least I know I'm gonna be here this time. When Kaia was born I was shot up and… I barely made it to the actual birth never mind this part."_

"_Oh, yeah." Seth remembered, "Well you're doing a pretty good job right now." He nodded._

"_I'm not doing anything." Punk laughed._

"_Phil, I'm having a contraction!" AJ called from the bathroom as Punk walked ahead and through the door where AJ was sitting on the toilet, "Why is this baby the devil?" AJ asked him as he helped her up to her feet._

"_Just taking it's time I guess." Punk nodded as AJ washed her hands, leaning against the sink for support._

"_Ouch." AJ sighed painfully, placing her hands on the edge of the sink as Punk rubbed her lower back._

"_You got this." Punk nodded, "Just ride it out." He said as AJ looked down at the ground, leaning over and moaning painfully as he rubbed her back._

"_Anything I can do?" Seth stuck his head into the bathroom as Punk and AJ turned to him in sync, "No? You… You both got this?" He nodded to them._

"_Actually can you go get me ice?" AJ asked, "That'd be great." She sighed._

"_Oh, yeah. Sure." Seth smiled, happy to help with something as he rushed away._

"_Go lock the door, don't let him back in." AJ said as Punk chuckled to himself and nodded._

"_He's just helping." Punk smiled._

"_Well can he help without talking?" AJ wondered._

"_Let's just get you back into bed." Punk nodded, helping her back into the main room so she could get more comfortable in bed and ride out more contractions. _


	12. Almost Out

**Almost Out**

* * *

"Morning, mam. Could we please trouble you in searching through your CCTV footage from the past couple of days?" Dean asked, standing beside Punk in the store which he and AJ regularly shopped in for groceries.

"And where are your credentials?" The woman folded her arms with attitude as Punk raised his eyebrows. It was way too early for people to test them.

"Sally." Punk looked at her name tag, "Can I call you Sally?" He wondered as she nodded, "Will this do?" He raised his badge.

"And yours?" Sally nodded to Dean, who also raised his badge, "And why are you wanting to look through the footage?"

"That really does not concern you." Punk said, "Could you just show us to the controls room please? Thank you." Punk nodded in the one go as Sally tutted and started to walk down an aisle.

"If anyone is stealing shit that ain't on us." Sally put her hands up as Punk rolled his eyes, turning to Dean who just shook his head.

"Not quite why we're here." Punk assured her, following her into the small room in the back where they kept the footage, "Thank you."

"Don't break anything." She warned them, leaving them to it as Punk sat down at the desk.

"Nice woman." Dean nodded sarcastically as Punk just shook his head.

"Ok, Tuesday around 2pm, let's go." Punk nodded, working the CCTV monitor whilst Dean looked on, "Hopefully we can get a clear enough picture."

"And if not?" Dean wondered.

"Let's not think about that." Punk shook his head. For now, this was the only hope they had at getting pictured evidence of this man who Marty had seen twice. And Punk so desperately wanted to stare at his face and find him.

"Wait wait… there's April." Dean noticed on one of the cameras as Punk played the footage and kept his eyes on AJ who was strolling around the store with Marty sitting in the shopping cart.

"You got eyes on anyone following?" Punk asked Dean, keeping their eyes pierced on all of the monitors.

"Uh… not yet." Dean said, looking closely.

"Wait hold up." Punk paused the footage, looking on at the frame where AJ had her back to the camera, with a visible man standing a few metres away, looking directly at her, "This is gotta be it, right?"

"Yeah… yeah, that's the same type of build." Dean nodded, "Play it and see if we get a shot of his face." He said as Punk nodded. He found it difficult watching this man leer across at his wife and daughter like he was preying on them. It made his blood boil.

He paused it immediately when the man turned around, looking closely at his face, leaning forward and staring at him.

"That's him." Dean identified as being the same guy who he saw in the streets, "Recognise him? I… I just… I've saw his face before." He said as Punk looked at him closely with narrowed eyes.

"I have no idea who that is." Punk said truthfully.

* * *

"Have you packed a bag?" AJ asked, sitting with Nadine in the kitchen who had come over to visit. Kaia was at school whilst Marty was in the living room playing and watching TV.

"It's not for another few days." Nadine reminded her.

"I know but… it's good to be organised and ready." AJ said.

"I just want it over." Nadine sighed, "It's just this huge weight I'm carrying around. Once I get the surgery done with I… I'll feel like a new person." She said as AJ nodded.

"Well I'm working next week when you're in for surgery so I'll be there. I can move down to ICU for the day-"

"Oh, no… don't rearrange everything for me. I'll be fine." Nadine said.

"And you're coming here to stay after the surgery." AJ nodded.

"I'll be fine in my own house." Nadine tutted.

"No, you're coming here." AJ said, "And you aren't getting out of it. You'll be really tired and sore, you need people there to help you, so take the help." She warned as Nadine just rolled her eyes back, "Phil is gonna take a couple days off work and then I'll take the next few days off so we can both be here-"

"I don't want you both stopping your lives for me-"

"Just take the help." AJ said. She could see where her husband got his stubbornness from, "You're having brain surgery. This isn't something minor you can shake off in a day or two." AJ reminded her, "Phil wants you here for a couple of weeks until you feel good on your feet." She said, "It's the safest way for you to recover." She said as Nadine nodded, of course she knew that.

"I suppose it might be." Nadine nodded to herself, "How was your weekend away? Enough talking about this silly surgery." She shook her head.

"It was really nice." AJ smiled, "We needed it." She nodded, "Although, when we came back Dean told us…" She paused. She realised this woman was worrying about enough right now, to add things to her plate wasn't fair and AJ realised that, "Dean told us the girls loved staying with him." She smiled.

"And that's a bad thing?" Nadine laughed.

"Well, have you met Dean?" AJ smiled as Nadine chuckled to herself, "Has Seth been in contact with you?"

"Yeah, off and on. I've saw more of Becky actually." She smiled, "I don't know, I feel like he's avoiding me." Nadine nodded as AJ frowned.

"I… I can speak to him if-"

"No, no don't make him feel like he has to say anything to me. I know he's just worried, bless him." Nadine sighed, "I expected Phil to react that way and Seth to react the way Phil has… they've switched completely-"

"Phil has done a lot of growing up in the past couple of years." AJ nodded.

"He has. Thanks to you." Nadine smiled, "Seth will come around in his own time. I just want him to know that it's gonna be fine. I'm gonna be fine." She said, "They've caught this early, I'm getting surgery really quickly and then chemo… it's all positive things-"

"Of course it is." AJ nodded, "I think people just hear cancer and… well, you just expect the worse." AJ said.

"Yeah, of course you do." Nadine nodded.

"I know that if they remove the tumour and I get chemo… I know one day it will come back but… that's one day that I'm not gonna think about." Nadine shook her head.

"No, you couldn't do that to yourself." AJ said, "Let me talk to Seth." She said, "He might… He might not know the right things to say and… well he can't avoid you forever."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be great." Nadine nodded, "So Phil is back at work?" She asked.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "He was up at like 5am this morning." AJ sighed, "And he probably won't be home until later. We had a big argument about it last week."

"About him working too late?" Nadine asked as AJ nodded.

"Yeah. And I know it's his job and I would never try and interfere with it or tell him not do certain things but… when he's missing breakfast with the girls, dinner, bath time and bed time… I mean, I just… I lost it." AJ admitted, "And of course he has to get his point across and get the last word-"

"Oh, he's always been like that." Nadine nodded, "But you're both ok now?"

"Oh, we're fine." AJ assured her, "I know that sometimes he can't do anything about it. It's his job and he's needed, but when it starts affecting the girls and they're not getting to see him in an entire day… I gotta say something."

"Yeah, quite right." Nadine agreed, "I'm glad you can both air your opinions to each other. I… I could never do that with the boys' father. I'd end up in hospital." She nodded to herself as AJ frowned. It was hard to imagine what that would be like. Having the husband she had, who she knew would never hurt her, especially not physically, it was hard to imagine the pain of what that would feel like.

"Why did you stay with him?" AJ shook her head.

"Because I loved him." Nadine shrugged, "And I was stupid mostly." She nodded, "He's getting out in a few weeks."

"He is?" AJ raised her eyebrows as Nadine nodded.

"Yeah. The boys don't know. I'd appreciate it if you just didn't tell them-"

"Wait… how… how do you know he's getting out?" AJ shook her head as Nadine looked down, "Oh, you didn't… Nadine-"

"I wrote to him and told him about me being ill." Nadine nodded, "And he wrote back and told me he was getting out soon-"

"Why would you do that?" AJ shook her head, "Nadine, he doesn't care. If he hurt you like he did, if he hurt your son… there's no way he really loved you or cared about you. If he did, he'd never have hurt you or… or tried to kill your for Christ sake." AJ said.

"I know all of this." Nadine nodded tiredly, "But I still had children with him and I still had a relationship with him-"

"An awful, awful relationship." AJ reminded her. She couldn't understand why this man still played a part in her mind. She supposed it wasn't her place to understand something like that, but she just knew that if any man had hurt her like that, or hurt her children, she'd never think about them ever again.

"I just felt like he should have known-"

"He tried to kill you." AJ said, "He hurt Phil for so long. Your son. You cannot let this man back into your life. It will backfire and you know it-"

"I'm not letting him in. I just told him about my illness-"

"Yeah and he told you he was getting out of prison soon, what do you think that means? Where do you think he's gonna go?" AJ asked, "He's gonna show up on your doorstep and you're gonna let him in."

"No I won't." Nadine scoffed.

"If Phil and Seth get word about this, I don't know what they'll do to that man." AJ sighed worriedly, "Phil is a cop, he can't get caught up in that-"

"I'm not asking him to. April you're the one blowing this out of proportion here." Nadine nodded.

"No, I'm really not." AJ said, "I don't want this man in my life and… and I haven't even met him yet. I don't want him near Phil, or my girls, or Seth or you." AJ shook her head, "And you shouldn't either."

"I don't." Nadine insisted, "I was just telling him about the illness, nothing else. There was no asking him to come stay with me again. He just wrote back saying he was really sorry and that he was getting out soon and he hoped that everything with my surgery went well. That was literally it-"

"He will show up at your door and you know it." AJ looked across at her as Nadine ran her hand through her hair, "Phil and Seth have to know-"

"No, they don't. Please don't tell them. They're already worrying about me and the surgery, they don't need this too-"

"I think they do." AJ said, "Because God forbid that man gets out and he gets back into your life… they should know."

"Do you think he would be that dumb to hurt me or do anything horrible when he knows that our sons are grown men that would kill him?" Nadine asked.

"He shouldn't be hurting you anyway, regardless of Phil and Seth being older." AJ said, "There's no excuses." She shook her head as Nadine looked across at her, "Which prison is he in?"

"Cook County." Nadine said as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Of course he is." AJ said.

"Why?" Nadine asked with concern.

"No reason." AJ looked across at her.

"April." Nadine said in an angry tone.

"What?" AJ shook her head, "I just wanted to know." She defended, "I want you to forget about this man, forget he exists and just… focus on you, right now more than ever you need to focus on you." AJ said as Nadine nodded.

"Please just don't tell the boys." Nadine shook her head, "It was just one letter, that's all." She said as AJ looked across at her and nodded slowly.

"I won't say anything." AJ nodded, "We're doing dinner tomorrow night remember." She said as Nadine nodded.

"When will I come?" Nadine asked.

"Whenever you like." AJ said, "Hopefully it takes your mind off things." She said as Nadine nodded.


	13. Visit

**Visit**

* * *

"Name." A prison officer stood at the desk outside the visiting rooms.

"April Brooks." AJ nodded nervously, playing with her hands. She'd never been inside a prison before. It was chilling. Just to know she was in the presence of people who had done terrible things. It was scary and she was wondering if this was such a good idea after all.

"Brooks, huh?" The officer smiled, "As in… Jack Brooks?" He asked her.

"He's my father-in-law." AJ nodded, "I called last night to see if I could visit and the woman said yeah, to come along between ten and eleven." AJ said as the officer nodded.

"Well Mister Brooks isn't popular with the visits." He told her, "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you." He nodded as AJ looked down at the ground, "Come with me." He hummed as AJ looked up, following the officer through the swing doors and down the corridor.

"When was the last time he had a visitor?" AJ asked.

"Oh, it has to be years now." The officer nodded, "He's getting out soon, actually. Always strange to see one of the long-term guys go. Spent most of his adult life in here." He said as AJ nodded.

"Does he behave?" AJ asked him.

"When he feels like it. Like the rest of them." He nodded, opening up the door for her, "Go take a seat at table number 4." He instructed her, "He'll be out soon."

"Thank you." AJ nodded, walking on into the visiting room which had lots of different tables set up with other visitors waiting to see their loved ones.

She knew fine well that if her husband knew she was here, he would have been so mad with her. She knew it was a terrible move to make but she didn't want this man in her life, or her husband's life, and she was here to tell him that to his face.

She waited for a few minutes, playing with her hands nervously when she began to see inmates pour out of the side room. She knew what he looked like from pictures from her husband's youth, but nothing beyond that. She was almost scared to be in his presence and to talk to him.

When she saw him walk through the door, she scarily saw a lot of her husband's features in him. More so than Seth's. And for some reason, he spotted her and knew that she was his visitor that was waiting.

He walked over to the table as she stayed sitting, looking at the cuffs around his wrists as he got closer and closer, finally arriving at the table and staring at her.

"No hug for your father-in-law?" Jack smirked as AJ looked up at him. She didn't say anything, simply looking up at him and waiting for him to sit down. He had tattoos pretty much everywhere she could see, and a very roughed up face in her opinion.

"I'm not here to bond with you." AJ looked at him, "How do you even know me?" She shook her head.

"Are you kidding?" Jack laughed, "You escaped chop happy, you were the talk of this whole prison for a very long time. Practically famous." He smiled.

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"You know, the serial killer who you got away from." Jack said, "We all had bets on how many bodies they would find." He nodded.

"You're sick." AJ shook her head.

"Bored." Jack corrected, "Then my ex came to visit me when my first grandchild was born and she told me that you, the serial killer escapee, married my son." He said.

"You still shouldn't know what I look like." AJ glared at him.

"Your face was on a lot of papers back then. A lot of guys in here really appreciated it. If you know what I mean." He smirked as AJ glared at him, "So… you're not here to bond with me, why are you here?"

"I'm here to warn you to stay the hell away from my family." AJ said as Jack looked at her, "From your sons and your ex. From me." AJ nodded as Jack laughed a little.

"Sweetie, I'm hardly coming out here with a grudge. I'm a better man now-"

"That's not a risk I would ever take." AJ made clear, "No one wants you in their life, certainly not Phil." She said.

"How is he?" Jack smiled, "All grown up. Wife and a kid. A good job. Good for him." Jack nodded as AJ looked across at him.

"He doesn't need your approval. I think we're a little past that." AJ nodded, "Just stay away from them. Nadine especially. She doesn't need any of this stress-"

"You certainly have the balls, don't you?" Jack nodded, "I knew Phil could never wear the pants in a relationship." He chuckled, "What do you think I'm gonna do when I get out, sweetheart?" He asked, leaning forward on the table as AJ backed away a little.

"Pick up where you left off." AJ said, "Show up on Nadine's door step, looking for a place to stay." She said, "It's not gonna happen." She made clear, "You and I both know that if Phil and Seth find out that you're anywhere near their mom, they'd kill you. They're not helpless kids anymore." She reminded him.

"I know that." Jack said, "Don't act like you know me, or you know what happened all those years ago-"

"I know enough." AJ said, "You hurt your family, you put them through torture. You don't get to do that again." She made clear, "Just stay away from us."

"So I don't even get a chance?" Jack asked her, "I don't get a chance to apologise?"

"No, you don't get a chance to do shit." AJ spat, "You tried to kill your wife. You abused your son. Do you really think you deserve a chance?" She asked him.

"Well given the fact that I've been in here for a long time, I've got to reflect on a lot of things. I've bettered myself, but… what use is that when I… when I'm not given the chance to do good?"

"No one wants you around." AJ spat.

"So how come it's you who is coming to speak to me and not one of my son's?" Jack wondered, "Do they know you're here?" He smiled, "They don't." He realised.

"No one should be giving you the time of day but I wanted to come and say what I have to say to your face." AJ said, "You don't get to be around us, you caused too much pain. You don't get to know your grandkids and your sons-"

"Grandkids?" Jack asked, "More than one? We've been busy." He winked as she glared at him, "So how many grandkids do I have now?"

"None of your damn business." AJ spat as Jack nodded, "If anything, you should stay away for your own good."

"My own good?" Jack smiled, "What if I just want to help my ex-wife get through this illness? What if I want to try my hardest to be better and to make it all up to her-"

"That is your own funeral and you know it." AJ spat, "Your sons aren't as sweet and innocent as you probably remember them."

"Well you're probably right." Jack nodded, "Maybe I can make it up to them too." He said.

"Maybe you can just stay away. You're not welcomed." AJ said, "You never will be."

"Mhm." Jack said, "If you spoke to your husband before coming here to see me, he would have told you that… I do and I say whatever I please to whoever I want." He looked her in the eyes, "If I want to show up on my ex wives door step when I get out of this place then guess what?" He smiled, "I'm gonna do it." He nodded as AJ looked at him, "And if I wanna meet my grandkids, I will do that too." He glared at her as she slapped him across the face hard, standing up.

"Hey!" An officer ran over, grabbing AJ around the waist just in time before she got the chance to launch herself across the table to pull Jack's eyes out, "Ok, visit is over for you, miss." He said, trying to drag her out.

"Stay away!" AJ yelled as Jack smiled.

"Nice to meet you, April." Jack smiled, "I'll see you soon." He blew her a kiss.

* * *

"You did what?!" Nadine shrieked.

"Shh." AJ rushed over to the kitchen door and closed it. Everyone had come over for dinner like planned. The girls were in the living room with Punk, Seth and Becky. She'd told Nadine about visiting Jack in prison, as well as everything he said.

"I didn't think you were this stupid." Nadine whispered harshly.

"You can't tell Phil." AJ shook her head.

"Why would you do this, April?" Nadine shook her head.

"Just… to tell him in person. But… I don't trust him-"

"Well of course not. No one would trust him." Nadine said.

"He's horrible." AJ shook her head.

"What did he say to you?" Nadine asked.

"He basically said he was gonna do what he wanted, no matter what." AJ said as Nadine looked at her, "I thought if I went and I told him how much we all didn't want him anywhere near us then it would… it might have helped-"

"All you've done is put him up to the challenge, April." Nadine sighed, "You shouldn't have went anywhere near him. Phil would freak. He will freak."

"I know… I know, you can't tell him. Please." AJ sighed, "I was just trying to… to help without anyone having to know or deal with him." AJ shook her head. She had good intentions for what she did, but once she had met the man behind the bars, she realised that she really was no match for him, nor were her words, "I'm sorry, you don't need this right now." AJ placed her hand on her forehead, "I just… I just thought he would maybe listen-"

"I could have told you that he wouldn't. He's only gonna test you now. I know how he works." Nadine said .

"What are you both whispering about in here?" Punk walked into the kitchen, "We got more juice boxes?" He asked, walking to the fridge.

"Yeah, top shelf." AJ directed him in the fridge, "We're just talking about the girls." AJ covered with a smile as Punk nodded, "This actually won't be long so you could get the girls to come in, get them set up at the table." AJ nodded to him.

"Sure." Punk nodded.

"Hey, how did things go with the technician?" AJ asked him. She hadn't really gotten a chance to speak to him all day. When he got home from work, everyone had arrived five minutes later and they were busy cooking dinner.

"We couldn't get a match on his face." Punk shook his head, "Not great." He said, "Me and Dean are gonna look through some old cases tomorrow, from around this area, see if his picture shows up."

"Oh, that's a good idea." AJ nodded. She was so distracted by everything with his father, that she'd completely forgotten about their mysterious stalker.

"I'll go bring everyone in." Punk told her as AJ nodded.

"Oh, you have to tell him." Nadine said immediately, "You can't lie to him. He is your husband and that is his father. You can't… you just can't." Nadine stressed.

"He'll be so mad at me." AJ said.

"Well you shouldn't have went, April. It was stupid." Nadine said, "For all we know, Jack was gonna get out and mind his own business, but now… now this has angered him and… God knows what he'll do." She shook her head as AJ watched. She realised that this was what it must have felt like to have grown up living with this man in their lives. To get just a small feeling of what it was like was torture, so she couldn't imagine what it was like back then.

"I wasn't unreasonable. I said what I had to. He… He was the one who was challenging it." AJ said, taking plates out and setting the table whilst Nadine took the food out from the oven, "I mean… what are we gonna do when he does get out? And he does come to your house and… and Phil sees him?" AJ asked, "I was just trying to protect everyone."

"You've made it worse." Nadine concluded, "You've pushed him and tested him."

"Yeah and you told me that things would be fine and that he'd changed-"

"That was before you visited him in prison, April!" Nadine snapped as Punk stood at the door.

"What?" Punk shook his head as AJ turned around, looking across at him whilst Seth stood behind with raised eyebrows, "You visited who in prison?" Punk looked at AJ, hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was.


	14. Accident

**Accident**

* * *

"April." Punk looked across at his wife who stood silently, "What… what's going on?" Punk shook his head.

"Girls, let's go into the living room." Becky took Marty and Kaia out of the kitchen and into the living room whilst Seth stayed out of curiosity.

"It's… nothing. We can… we can talk about it later." AJ nodded to him.

"You don't know anyone who is in prison." Punk shook his head, looking across at her whilst Seth ran his hand through his hair. Of course they all knew who she'd visited, they just didn't want to believe it.

"Phil, we can wait… dinner is getting cold." AJ said, trying to brush it off.

"I don't care." Punk said truthfully, "Tell me you didn't… tell me you did not go and see my dad." He shook his head as AJ looked at him, turning to Nadine who scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, "Tell me you didn't."

"I did." AJ nodded, "I did, I'm sorry." AJ shook her head as Punk ran his hand through his hair.

"This isn't April's fault." Nadine butted in, "I… I wrote to him and… and she got worried, this isn't a blaming game-"

"You wrote to him?" Seth screwed his eyes up, "Have you two lost your mind?" He looked from his friend to his mom whilst Punk stood in disbelief.

"Why the hell would you do this, April?" Punk shook his head, "Why would you go near him?"

"I just… I thought I would go and… see him in person, ask him to leave us alone and… and when he gets out, not to come near us." AJ said, "He… took that as a challenge, I guess." She nodded as Punk shook his head.

"I can't believe you, April." He said angrily, "And you let her go?" He turned to his mom.

"Hey, I didn't know she'd gone until after she'd been." Nadine defended, "She was just trying to protect you all-"

"By doing what?" Punk asked angrily, "By talking to him gently? He's a terrible person. He doesn't take well to conversations and please and thank yous. You visiting him has only made it more clear that he is going to get out and come straight for all of us." He said.

"Well I didn't… I didn't think that would happen obviously." AJ said, "I didn't know he was so… scary." AJ admitted.

"Seriously?" Punk shook his head.

"Well you never talk about him, Phil-"

"I shouldn't need to. You know what happened. That should be enough." Punk said, "And why the hell would you write to him and invite that sort of attention again?" He turned to his mother.

"I… I just wanted to tell him about my cancer-"

"Oh, because he would be the first one to care, right?" Punk nodded, "Because he's gonna be the first one you see when you wake up from surgery? Or he's gonna be the one taking you to chemo every week and sitting with you?"

"Phil, calm down." Seth suggested.

"No… no, I'm fed up of this bullshit." Punk shook his head, "I don't know who is more stupid."

"Excuse me?" AJ spat.

"Yeah, excuse me?" Nadine joined in.

"What did you expect, April? What did you really think was gonna happen? He'd nod and agree to everything you were saying and give you a… a written contract saying he won't come near any of us?" He asked.

"I thought that if I saw him in person, he would… he would take in more and listen more-"

"He does what he wants." Punk said, "And you know that. Talking to him wasn't gonna change anything. Asking him nicely won't change anything. Don't you think mom asked him nicely not to hit her in the face sometimes? He still fucking done it." He spat. At this point he was yelling, loudly.

"Dude, you gotta calm down." Seth nudged him.

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down." Punk warned him, "Where have you even been for the past few weeks? As soon as mom told us she's got cancer you're suddenly nowhere to be seen."

"Phillip, that is enough!" Nadine spat.

"Hey, man why you turning this around on me?" Seth spat angrily, "Don't fucking come at me cause you're mad at them." He said as Punk looked at him.

"Phil… I'm sorry, I know it was stupid but at the time… I just, I heard your mom talk about him and I just… I felt like I needed to protect us, protect our family." AJ said, taking his hand, getting his attention as he looked at her, "That was all I was trying to do."

"And now you've done the complete opposite." Punk nodded, "Well done." He said, "I could have told you exactly what he would have said to you word for word before you even went. I bet he told you he does whatever he wants to whoever he wants." He said as AJ gulped, "And I bet he told you that he's bettered himself and he deserves that chance to prove that he's better because other than that… what's the point?" He said as AJ looked at him, surprised and shocked that he really did know everything his father had said.

"Phil, I-"

"There's no talking this man around. He is a terrible person and now you've pushed his buttons. You know what used to happen when we pushed his buttons? I'd listen to him beat mom up or… or I'd get beat up too, depending on how hard we pushed him." Punk said, "Why would it cross your mind to go anywhere near him?" He shook his head.

"Phil, it's not her fault." Nadine said, "It's easy to try and see good in people-"

"I wasn't trying to see good in him." AJ spat quickly, "I was trying to get him to stay away. I thought if… if I spoke to him, if I gave him the decency of a one on one conversation then maybe he'd… he'd listen."

"Well I'll remember that when he shows up here and I have to beat him up." Punk nodded.

"She was just trying to protect us." Nadine said, "I started this. I wrote to him." She said. She was mad at April because she knew what this man was like. She knew she was a fool when it came to him, but she was smart enough to never want her children or April around him.

"Yeah… why would you do that?" Punk questioned, "Didn't you learn from the last time?"

"I have cancer and I'll tell whoever I want about that." Nadine spat, "I don't have to run it past you-"

"He literally almost killed you, and he tried to kill you." Punk said, "But sure, he deserves to know about the cancer." He nodded, "I'm sure he was tearing up at the letter."

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Marty walked into the kitchen, "When are we eating?"

"In a minute, baby." AJ nodded as Marty looked around at everyone. She wasn't stupid, she could feel it uneasy in the air.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked sweetly, sitting her teddy bear up on the table and looking around at everyone.

"Go into the living room, Marty." Punk told her as Marty looked at him.

"I kinda wanna stay here." Marty told him truthfully.

"Marty." Punk got her attention in a serious tone as she looked at him. He had his scary voice on, like when they got in trouble sometimes.

"Oh, ok." Marty hopped off the chair and ran away, knowing when she wasn't welcomed.

"Let's… let's just have dinner." AJ said, "Ok, there's no need to… to let this ruin the night. We can talk about this later-"

"I'm not gonna sit down and have dinner." Punk shook his head, "You lied to me. You went behind my back-"

"It wasn't like that." AJ shook her head, "I… I was trying to do a good thing. I was scared and I wanted to… to try and convince this man to stay away from us."

"There is no convincing him. He'll do what he wants. In fact, if you ask him not to do something, he'll go right ahead and do it." Punk nodded.

"Phil, her head was in the right place." Nadine said, "Let's not argue over him. Not him of all people-"

"Would you make up your mind?" Punk asked, "One minute you hate the guy, next you wanna see the good in him… which is it?"

"My relationship with him is different." Nadine said. Most of the time she didn't know what she felt for him. She was scarred and confused by everything for the most part.

"Really? Because he pretty much beat us both so… I don't see how it's that different." Punk said.

"I'm… I'm gonna take off…" Seth said with exhaustion as Punk turned to him.

"Convenient." Punk nodded.

"What do you want me to say?" Seth said, "Mom has surgery in a few days, she doesn't need any of this shit." He said, "April you shouldn't have gone to see my dad." He shook his head with disappointment.

"I know that." AJ said, "I'm sorry, ok? I don't know what you want me to say? I was trying to do a good thing. I was trying to take all the worry from you guys and just… put it on me and face him on my own-"

"You had to have known I'd react like this." Punk said, "You aren't stupid."

"Yeah, I'm not, you're right, so don't treat me like I am." AJ spat as Nadine watched.

"It's not even anything to do with you." Punk realised, "He's not your dad, it's none of your business-"

"Yeah? Well he said he's gonna come meet our kids so… actually, that is my business." AJ hissed.

"He said what?" Punk looked at her as Nadine groaned to herself.

"I think we all need to cool off." Nadine shook her head.

"Do you have any idea what you've did?" Punk spat as Seth pushed him.

"Stop yelling at her, man." Seth shoved him hard.

"Or what?" Punk pushed him back, "Huh?"

"Boys." Nadine shook her head, watching them push one another.

"Would you both stop it?" AJ spat, trying to get in between them as Seth pushed Punk who fell into AJ, knocking her over onto the ground, looking up at them as Punk turned around.

"That is enough!" Nadine yelled angrily, walking around the table to help AJ as Punk looked at her staring up at him. The feeling of looking down at her after knocking her over made him feel sick. He knew it was an accident, and so did she, but even still, he felt hatred for himself in that very moment, which made him realise just how despicable his father had to have been to have done what he did to their mother so freely.

"April, I'm sorry." Punk shook his head.

"Sorry." Seth looked over as AJ got to her feet slowly, not saying anything.

"I uh…" Punk looked over at her, "I'm gonna… I gotta go." He shook his head.

"Where?" Seth shook his head as AJ looked over at him, no longer saying anything, not having anything else to say, massaging her elbow which she hurt after falling over.

"I just gotta go." Punk shook his head, "I'll uh… I'll take the girls for food…" He backed up out of the kitchen, walking into the living room to get the girls before exiting the house quickly.

"Take a seat." Nadine told AJ, "I'll get you some ice."

"I'm fine." AJ insisted tiredly as Seth looked over at her. He knew she was only trying to protect them, and deep down, he knew that Phil knew that too, but it was a foolish thing to do to stand up to a man as horrible as their father.

"Daddy what are we doing?" Kaia asked as Punk helped them into the car.

"Just… going for a drive, get… get some food or something." Punk shook his head, helping them into their car seats.

"I thought we were having dinner in the house." Kaia said.

"Well… change of plans." Punk nodded, "Dinner in the car tonight." He said. He never walked out of anything, certainly not on his family, but he had to get out of the environment. He felt like he was suffocating as he was thinking about his father talking to his wife, and planning to see his children. It was too much. On top of that, accidentally hurting his wife was something he definitely needed fresh air for.

"Daddy." Marty whispered as Punk nodded, strapping her in, "Are you ok?" She asked sweetly as Punk turned to her. The honest answer was definitely no. He really was not ok.

"I'm ok, sweetheart." Punk nodded, kissing her head as Marty smiled, "I'm ok." He assured her, closing the door over and getting in behind the wheel to do some serious thinking.


	15. Again

**Again**

* * *

"Daddy why'd you take us out?" Marty asked, climbing into the front of the car where Punk was sat behind the wheel, quietly thinking to himself.

He'd taken the girls through a drive-thru, letting them have their dinner in the back of the car whilst he parked in a car park, watching the different cars going by.

"Huh?" Punk turned to her.

"Where is mommy?" Marty asked him, "You snatched us up and left." She giggled as Punk nodded slowly.

"She's… she's at home." Punk assured her, "I thought you preferred this kind of food."

"Well sometimes." Marty said.

"I like mommy's food." Kaia said from the back seat, "It's real late." She looked out the window as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know. We'll… we'll go home soon." He nodded.

"I like it dark." Marty smiled, kneeling up on the passengers chair, looking out the window, "All the lights are pretty." She smiled as Punk looked around and nodded. He'd only taken the girls because… as soon as he heard what his father had said to AJ, he felt like he couldn't let them out of his sight.

"Yeah, they are." Kaia agreed, swinging her legs back and forth, "Why didn't mommy come with us?" She asked as Punk looked around.

"She uh… she wasn't hungry." Punk told them.

"Oh." Marty nodded, "I'm always hungry." She shrugged.

"Yeah, we know." Punk smiled to her, watching as she climbed back through to the back of the car.

"I gotta finish my nuggets." She told them, sitting back down in her car seat, "Kaia did you steal one?" She looked on.

"No." Kaia scoffed, looking the other way.

"Yes you did." Marty counted her nuggets whilst Punk sat in the front, not really paying attention to their fighting, too busy consumed by everything on his mind, leaning his elbow on the side of the door, "Daddy, do you think she stole the nugget?"

"I don't know, that's up to your sister to tell us." Punk said calmly as Kaia turned to Marty who was waiting for her to own up.

"Ok, I stole it." Kaia shrugged.

"Bad sister." Marty tutted.

"Well you were talking too much." Kaia concluded, "And they're getting cold."

"But they were mine." Marty said as Punk listened to them bicker back and forth. He enjoyed listening to them fight over something so minor. He really wished his life was as simple as theirs was right now.

"Are we bringing something to eat for mommy? Won't she be hungry?" Kaia asked.

"She'd probably appreciate a donut more." Punk nodded to himself. He knew he had to apologise to her for the way he'd reacted, the way he'd treated the situation. But he was just so taken back by her going to visit his father, especially when she knew how it would affect him. And to hear that his father had every intention to walk back into their lives with a smirk on his face was just the icing on the cake. He knew AJ wanted to protect them all, but she had no idea who they were truly dealing with.

"Then we should get her a donut, daddy." Marty said, "Lots of donuts."

"Yeah, we should." Punk nodded to himself, "Ok, let's take a walk to Dunkin then." He said, getting out of the car and helping them out of the car. He figured some fresh air would do them all good, especially him.

As he was helping Marty down from the car with Kaia waiting beside him, he began to hear frantic screaming in the distance, turning around with confusion as he watched a woman running from behind the dumpster. He'd parked the car a little far away from everything else, so he really was the only person around with the girls.

"Uh…" Kaia turned around with confusion as Punk watched the young girl trip up, crying and screaming as he shook his head.

"Ok, back in the car. Back in." Punk quickly helped the girls back into the car, closing the door over and locking the car as he ran over to the young girl, "Hey… hey, what's the matter?" He got her attention, crouching down as she shook with fear.

"He's chasing me. He… he was chasing me." She said, trying to get to her feet, pulling onto Punk's arms to try and stand up.

"Hey, calm down… it's ok, you're ok." He nodded to her, "I'm a cop." He said, which was something a lot of people usually took comfort in, "I'm a cop, and you're gonna be fine." He nodded to her as she looked at him, "What's your name?"

"S-Stella." She gulped as he nodded.

"Stella, I'm Phil. That's my car over there." He showed her, "Are you hurt?" He asked, trying to calm her down.

"N-No… no, but he was… he was chasing me." Stella said, struggling to catch her breath, "All the way… all the way he was chasing me."

"Ok." Punk nodded, talking to her calmly and calming her down whilst Marty and Kaia looked out the car window.

"What's daddy saying to the crazy lady?" Marty whispered, pressing her face against the car window as they watched their father talk to the girl.

"He's being nice." Kaia nodded, "She's upset." She noticed.

"Oh." Marty looked on, "Why?"

"I don't know." Kaia shrugged, "Maybe she has a grazed knee." She turned to her sister.

"Oh, maybe." Marty agreed, "I hate a grazed knee." She rolled her eyes.

"Or a tummy ache." Kaia said as Marty nodded, sitting back down over at her side of the car, looking out the other window when she noticed the man. That same older man that she saw everywhere.

"Kaia." Marty whispered.

"What? Kaia turned around.

"He's here again." Marty said quietly.

"What?" Kaia looked over.

"The man." Marty said as Kaia shuffled over and looked out, "Look." She said, "He scares me" She sighed as Kaia looked on at the man.

"Maybe he wants to be our friend." Kaia shrugged.

"But he's not little like us." Marty shook her head as Kaia shrugged.

Meanwhile Punk had got Stella to her feet and was helping her to the car, "I'm gonna take you to the station, ok?" Punk nodded to her, "There's nowhere safer and we'll… we'll find whoever was chasing you." He said.

"O-Ok." Stella nodded as Punk guided her to the car. It terrifyingly reminded him of the time AJ banged on his door, desperate for help after being chased from the hospital. This girl had the exact same terrified look on her face as he remembered AJ having.

"My daughters are in the car. Don't mind them. They-They do talk a lot." He smiled as Stella laughed nervously and nodded, heading on over to the car with him, thankful she'd found safety.

* * *

"He didn't mean to get like that." Seth shook his head, sitting down at the kitchen table with AJ. Becky had offered to drive Nadine home after a very unsuccessful night, whilst Seth stayed with AJ, figuring right now, she really cold use her best friend.

"Yes he did." AJ nodded, "He meant every single word." She said, looking around at the kitchen which had all the food they were supposed to have for dinner, as a family.

"He wouldn't have meant to get that mad with you." Seth said, "You know that."

"Do I?" AJ asked him, "I swear when he gets mad at me he just… he turns into that teenager that I hated." She nodded, "Or… the teenager that hated me."

"You guys will work it out. You always do." Seth nodded, "Dad is a… a touchy subject with him. It always will be and… I mean, we can understand why."

"Seth, I thought I was doing something good." AJ nodded, "I really did." She said sincerely as Seth nodded.

"I know." Seth said.

"I just thought that if… if I saw him face to face, I spoke to him and asked him in a calm way, he might have listened and I don't know… I just felt like my back was up against the wall and I needed to protect my husband." AJ shrugged as Seth nodded.

"I know." Seth nodded, "But he's not… he's not the understanding type, like Phil said. If you had any concerns about him, you could have spoken to us, spoke to me or Phil, or my mom-"

"Your mom is going to take him back. I know it." AJ said as Seth looked at her, "Especially now in her state, where she probably feels alone-"

"No, she would never… she would never put herself in danger again. And we wouldn't let her-"

"I'm telling you. The man has some weird thing over her. It's like she wants to hate him but he she can't." She shook her head.

"I don't think he necessarily has anything over her. I think she… she loved him and, even though he hurt her and he hurt Phil… the scarring from that is probably too much, so… she blocks it out and tries to remember the good things about him-"

"Wouldn't it be easier just to hate him?" AJ sighed, "I mean that guy has zero good qualities, I'm sure of it."

"Well they… they had to be in some sort of love." Seth shrugged as AJ sighed.

"That couldn't have been love." AJ shook her head, "Not with that sort of abuse."

"I know. I guess it's not for you or I to understand. We're lucky like that." Seth nodded.

"Do you hate me?" AJ asked quietly.

"Of course I don't hate you. I-I wish you spoke to someone before going down to county." He said, "But… you did it out of the goodness of your heart. Give Phil some time and he'll see that." He nodded, "And if he does get out of prison and he… he comes heading this way, we'll send him packing." He assured her, "Ok?" He smiled as she nodded.

"Why did he take the girls?" AJ shook her head curiously. It was strangely quiet and she realised that Punk had taken the girls with him on his way out after the explosive fight.

"Probably to distract him." Seth nodded, "We gotta forget about all of this shit and help my mom. I know I've not been around much lately. Truth is I… I just hate knowing that she's going through this." He said as AJ nodded, "But we all gotta group together to help her through the surgery." He said as AJ nodded, "Fuck my dad. He really isn't important to any of us and it'll always be that way." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "I feel stupid."

"No, don't." Seth shook his head, "You were just trying to help and do what you thought was right. Nothing wrong with that." He said as AJ smiled softly.

"Tonight I'm back in the I hate Phil Brooks club." She nodded as Seth laughed a little.

"That was a fun club." Seth laughed as AJ smiled.

"I kinda just wanna go to bed and… and I'll talk to him in the morning." AJ shrugged.

"Then off you go. I'm sure he'll be home soon. You go on up and I'll clear this place up."

"Thank you." AJ smiled. She was glad she always had her best friend.

* * *

Punk got home later that night after being at the station for a while with the girl he'd found in such a frantic state. The girls had fallen asleep in the car, so he lifted them both out and headed into the house, closing the door over with his foot and immediately going straight up stairs.

He had both of their heads over each shoulder, not quite the little babies he remembered, but still small enough to carry them with ease to their rooms. He got them into their pyjamas and into bed without disturbing them, a talent that was now so natural to he and AJ.

He left their rooms and headed for his own, opening up the door and looking over at AJ asleep on her side of the bed. The feeling of fighting with her was just such a hollow, dark and sad feeling that loomed over him. He was angry with himself for how he reacted.

He closed the bedroom door over and stripped his clothes off, heading into the bathroom as AJ opened her eyes. She hadn't really been sleeping, but she wasn't sure she really wanted to talk to him.

She closed her eyes back over when he left the bathroom, hearing him walk towards the bed, getting in beside her and sighing to himself as she kept her back to him.

She felt him lean in and place a kiss on her shoulder, rubbing her hip softly before turning around onto his side.

"Phil." AJ turned around onto her back as Punk turned.

"Hey I thought you were sleeping." He shook his head.

"I… I didn't really want to talk about all of this right now." AJ admitted honestly as he nodded.

"Then let's not." He said, "We can talk in the morning."

"I was really just trying to help." AJ said as he looked into her eyes. Of course he knew that's all she was doing. It wasn't the smartest decision she'd made, but deep down there was goodness in her actions, there always was.

"I know you were, April." Punk nodded, "I should never have reacted the way I did. I had no right to go off like that. I'm not even sure I was mad at you, I think I was just… mad at him." He admitted as AJ nodded.

"I really thought that if… if I spoke to him, if I just told him to stay away, warned him… then maybe he'd listen-"

"And I could have told you that he'd never listen." Punk said.

"Do you think I've made things worse?" She asked worriedly.

"I think he was coming regardless of you visiting him. My mom has this weird thing with him. He's… he's the last thing she needs right now." He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"There's one of him and… all of us." AJ reminded him, "It's not gonna be like how it was before, when you were little."

"Yeah, because I'll beat his ass this time." Punk nodded.

"Don't stoop to his level. You're a cop and he'll be on strict probation. He'd be a fool to do anything stupid." AJ said.

"He is stupid." Punk concluded as AJ looked at him, "I'm sorry I hurt you." He turned to her, "Bumping into you-"

"That was an accident." AJ shook her head. She wasn't even thinking about falling over. It didn't cross her mind to blame him for that when she knew it was an accident.

"Yeah but it wouldn't have happened if I wasn't being an idiot." He shook his head, "Did you hurt yourself?" He asked her as she shook her head.

"I'm ok." AJ assured him.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"I'm sorry too." AJ nodded, "For going behind your back and… for not realising just how much this man affects you. I'm your wife, I should have none better-"

"No, it's not your fault." Punk shook his head, "You're right. He's one guy and… we've got our whole family." He said as AJ nodded, "I don't gotta feel like we're under attack by him. I'm… I'm not seven anymore." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"He's not gonna get to us. Or you mom. Or the girls." AJ shook her head as he nodded.

"Everything just feels really shit right now." He nodded. Between his mother going through her illness, to his father getting out of prison, to worrying about this apparent stalker they possibly had.

"I know." AJ sighed, shuffling closer to him and cuddling into him where things just felt right again, "It's gotta get better, right?"

"Yeah." Punk whispered, kissing her head, running his hand up and down her hair sweetly, "Yeah, it'll… it'll get better." He nodded, looking up at the ceiling, suddenly hearing their bedroom door opening up as Punk and AJ turned around.

"Hi." Marty whispered, rubbing her eyes as Punk lifted his head.

"What are you doing, baby?" Punk shook his head.

"Daddy I forgot to tell you." Marty walked over to her father's bed side as AJ looked on at her daughter, "Saw the man again." She nodded.


	16. Only You

**Link**

* * *

"When did you see the man?" Punk shook his head, sitting up as AJ also sat up, looking on at Marty who was rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"When you were talking to the crazy lady." Marty said, climbing up onto the bed and sitting between them.

"The crazy lady?" AJ shook her head, turning to Punk.

"Oh, yeah we… we ran into some trouble." Punk said, "But… where was the man, baby?" Punk asked.

"Beside the bushes." Marty told him, "I told Kaia and she said… she said he might want to be our friend and I said no because… because he's not little like us." She nodded.

"Baby, listen to me." AJ cupped her cheeks, "That man is not your friend, ok?" AJ nodded.

"I know he isn't." Marty insisted, "But he scares me." She admitted truthfully, hugging her teddy bear which was missing an eye, kissing his head and pretending to put him to sleep as AJ glanced over to Punk. Three times could never be a coincidence, and hearing that his daughter was scared was the final straw.

"If you see this man again, you have to tell us right away." AJ said, "It's not ok for him to do this." AJ made clear in the lightest way possible as Marty looked at her, "You have to tell mommy or daddy. Right away."

"I tried but daddy was with the crazy lady and then… then I forgot." Marty admitted, "What if he comes here?" She asked them both, shimmying closer to her father, which was where she felt most safe.

"Hey, listen to me, baby." He looked down at her, "He's not coming here. That man is gonna go away, ok? Mommy and daddy will make sure of it." He promised, "Don't you worry about him." He said as Marty nodded.

"Good because I don't like him." Marty said.

"You're gonna be fine." Punk smiled, trying not to show his genuine concern in case it scared her. She was too young to be worrying about something like this. It pretty much seemed like the final straw in such a chaotic day.

"I can go back to my bed now." Marty told them, crawling over Punk and jumping down, "Can someone please take me?" She wiggled her hand out to whoever took her up on her offer first.

"I'll take you." Punk nodded, getting out of bed and taking her little hand, walking out of the bedroom and into Marty's whilst AJ sat in bed, sighing to herself with worry and fear. It was a parent's worst nightmare. To have some stranger stalking them, scaring their children, and to not know why or who he was… it was like a living nightmare.

Once Punk got Marty back into bed, he headed back to his own bedroom where AJ was sat waiting for answers, "The crazy lady?" AJ questioned.

"Yeah, I was gonna tell you in the morning. I just thought we could get past the first hurdle." He said, getting back into bed beside her.

"Well what happened?" AJ sighed.

"Well I parked after getting the girls their food. They were happy in the back eating it and I was… daydreaming and thinking about how much of a jerk I was to you… we then got out to get donuts for you actually." He said as AJ nodded with a small smile, "And I started to hear screaming and crying. All of a sudden this young girl just runs out from behind the dumpster, you know the part where it's all bushes and grass?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "So… she was hurt or… what happened?" AJ asked.

"Well I got the girls in the car and I locked it. Went over to the girl who was on the ground crying. Told her I was a cop and that she was ok. She just kept saying that he was chasing her." He shrugged.

"Was she hurt?" AJ asked.

"No, she had grazed knees but no fatal wounds or anything." Punk said, "I got her in the car and I drove her to the station. She was really shaken up. I asked her if she knew the person who was chasing her and she said no." Punk said, "I took her into the station and I left her with Tony. I would have stayed but the girls were there and it was already late enough."

"Oh my God." AJ sighed.

"It reminded me of…" He paused as AJ looked at him.

"Of what?" She asked.

"You." He shook his head, "When you came at my door the night you were being chased." He said.

"Well my heart goes out to her. I know what it feels like… it's… it's the most terrified I've ever been." She nodded, "Apart from now, knowing someone is stalking us and our children." AJ said.

"Marty must have saw the guy when I was talking to Stella." Punk said, "That was her name." He said as she nodded.

"I don't want her to be scared, Phil." AJ sighed.

"I don't either." Punk said, "We need to figure this out. I need to figure it out and find who it is. I… I've got his face so that's a bonus-"

"Weren't you and Dean going to look at old case files to see if he matched any?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, and Dean recognises his face so… I'm hoping that we find something." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I don't want to leave their sides." AJ admitted, "I don't want to go to work tomorrow and leave Marty with your mom or… or even put Kaia in school. I just feel like they're not safe." AJ shook her head.

"You gotta go to work." Punk advised, "Kaia is super safe in school and Seth was seeing my mom tomorrow so Marty will be with both of them." He said, "They'll be ok." He nodded.

"And then your mom's surgery is Wednesday." AJ said, "I haven't even sorted the guest bedroom for her." She sighed.

"It'll take ten minutes to do that, don't stress." Punk shook his head.

"I know but I was gonna buy new bed covers and make her up a little basket with nice things in it." AJ said.

"You can still do that." Punk smiled, "That's a nice idea."

"Can… can you come with me to the store tomorrow after I finish? I don't know, I just… I don't feel ok going by myself." She admitted. She had that panicked, paranoid feeling like when she had first left the safe house. It was the same worried feeling that something bad was going to happen and she hated it.

"I'll come with you." Punk nodded, "Tomorrow me and Dean will try get some answers, get a name at least." He said as AJ nodded.

"When does it all end?" She sighed, rolling her head back against the headboard as he nodded.

"Soon hopefully." Punk said, "Let's just… let's promise not to take it out on each other." He turned to her as she nodded, "It doesn't help anyone and quite frankly it just makes me crabby." He shrugged, "I hate fighting with you."

"Well I didn't think you'd love it." AJ smiled a little.

"Well… sometimes some of our fights aren't the worst-"

"The ones we end up having sex during?" AJ figured.

"Obviously." Punk nodded, "But I couldn't think of a time where we both need each other as much as we do right now. So… let's just-"

"Not fight." AJ nodded, "Easier said than done."

"It's not even like us to fight. Not seriously." He said as she nodded, knowing that to be true.

"I give us a pass." AJ said, "There's a lot of shit going on right now."

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "It's gonna be fine, though." He promised her as she nodded, watching him lean forward, taking her lips against his as she kissed back deeply, climbing over him and kissing him passionately as he lifted her top off, picking her up and laying her on her back up the wrong side of the bed. Maybe they just needed a little something to take their minds off of a lot.

* * *

"Phil!" Dean called, running from an interrogation room the next morning as Punk arrived at the station, barely making it to his desk before being called on.

"Can't I put my things down at least?" Punk sighed.

"You'll never guess what I've just found out." Dean said.

"What have you just found out?" Punk asked.

"I spent all morning in a room with Stella, you know… the girl from last night." He said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah? You get anywhere with things?" Punk asked.

"Well I was going through the basics with her and when I asked her to describe him… well it seemed fitting and similar."

"To what?" Punk shook his head.

"To the guy creeping on you and April." Dean said as Punk folded his arms, "So I went back to the store and got the footage frames from that cheery manager." He rolled his eyes, "I showed it to Stella and… she identified him as the man who was chasing her last night." He said as Punk shook his head with confusion.

"Wait… what?" Punk looked across at him, "But… Marty said that she-" He paused, running his hand through his hair and looking at Dean. Realising that it did put this man in the same places at the same time. Very conveniently.

"Marty said what?" Dean shook his head.

"Marty saw him last night." Punk sighed to himself, "When I was talking to Stella… she said she saw him over by the bushes." He said, "It fucking makes sense." He nodded, "Why the hell was he chasing her? Who-Who the fuck is this guy?" Punk shook his head angrily.

"Well I didn't get to that part yet. She's still really shaken up. Her mom came in a couple hours ago and I let them have a coffee and just relax for a bit." Dean nodded, "I figured you might want in on the questions."

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I do now."

"So Marty saw him when you were helping Stella?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, he must have… stopped chasing her and diverted his tracks." Punk said, "Who the fuck is this dude?" Punk shook his head, walking through the station with Dean, heading for the interviewing room.

"I think we're about to start finding out." Dean nodded.


	17. Awoken History

**Awoken History**

* * *

"So you were leaving work at what time?" Punk asked, sitting across the table with Dean from Stella and her mom who had not long joined her. They were asking her as much questions as they could whilst everything was still fresh in her mind. Of course it was difficult to see a young girl so frightened, so scarred.

"I finished my shift at 8." Stella nodded as Punk scribbled the information down on a notebook. He wouldn't have interfered in the interview other than the fact that Dean brought up the link between the supposed culprit and the mystery stalker he seemed to have.

"Where do you work again?" Punk asked.

"I work in an office." Stella nodded, "Taxes." She rolled her eyes as Punk smiled.

"Smart." Punk nodded to her, smiling to her mother who nodded. As a parent, he became a lot more sympathetic to other parents, and it helped him do his job better.

"I only started a couple of weeks ago." Stella sighed as Punk nodded.

"Do you ever remember seeing this man around the office building? Even just walking by or standing across the road, in a car-"

"I hadn't seen that man until last night." Stella assured him.

"Talk me through what happened after you left the building. Every tiny detail matters." Punk nodded as Stella thought back.

"I uh… I called my mom." Stella nodded, turning to her mother who smiled and rubbed her back softly, "Asked her what was for dinner." She laughed a little as Punk and Dean smiled.

"What was for dinner?" Dean asked as her mother smiled.

"It was going to be Chinese food." Her mother nodded.

"Nice. Good choice." Dean nodded as Stella smiled.

"I called her whilst I was walking to my car. I uh… I park around the back of the building because there's never any space in the morning outside the street so… it's just easier." Stella nodded, "I was on the phone to my mom the entire way to the car and then I hung up as I was getting in." She said.

"Was there anyone else around?" Punk asked.

"No, just me. It was just my car in the car park." Stella said, "And there's no… street lights around or any sort of side lights." She nodded.

"What happened next?" Punk asked.

"I heard someone say excuse me." Stella nodded, "I was just about to get in my car, my door was even opened and… it was just like he appeared out of nowhere." She said as Punk nodded, "I… I turned around and… I felt at ease that it was an older man. Really older."

"What age do you reckon?" Punk asked.

"Fifties, maybe even sixty." Stella said as Punk nodded, "I know older people can still hurt people but… I just… I didn't think anything of it." She said.

"What was he wearing?" Punk asked.

"Black pants." Stella said, "A black shirt and a dark blue jacket. He had a hat on but he had longish grey hair." She nodded, "He was big built." She added as Punk nodded.

"What'd he say to you?" Punk asked her.

"Well nothing… he was just standing there so I asked him if he was ok, if he was lost… I assumed that was why he was approaching me." Stella said as Punk nodded.

"Was he holding anything? Did he have a weapon? Knife? Anything in his hands?" Punk asked.

"No nothing." Stella shook her head, "He started walking closer to me after I asked him if he was ok. That was when I… I started to panic." She nodded as Punk looked across at her, "I… I thought maybe he was looking for money. My friend got mugged by someone on the street one time so… I know it happens. I'm not completely stupid." She said, "So I… I panicked and I told him he could have my wallet." She nodded.

"Did he say anything? Was he looking at anything in particular?" Punk asked.

"He didn't reply. He wasn't speaking. He just kept getting closer." She said, "He was just staring at my face the entire time." She nodded, "Then I… I thought… I thought he was going to rape me." She said, starting to cry as Punk sighed, sitting his pen down and turning to Dean who reached over for the tissues.

Punk and Dean gave her a couple of minutes whilst her mom embraced her, sighing to themselves. This was without a date, their least favourite part of being a cop.

"I'm sorry." Stella shook her head, taking some tissues and fixing herself.

"Hey, don't be sorry." Punk shook his head, "You're really brave." He nodded as she dried her eyes.

"I uh… that's what I thought." She said, "And… And I had a dress on so… so I knew it wouldn't take much." She sobbed to herself as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "So I uh… I figured the only way out was to run." She nodded, "I tried to run by him and he grabbed me. I just… I begged him not to hurt me but he just looked at me. He had no expression. Like he wasn't taking in anything I was saying." Stella said, "He had his hand on my shoulder so I… I leaned in and I bit his arm." She nodded, "Got me free of him and I… I took off running." She said, "I looked back and he was starting to chase me. That's when I started screaming because… it was the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me." She admitted as Punk nodded, looking across at her.

"Did you keep looking back?" Dean asked her.

"No. Just the once and I just tried to keep my eyes forward and run as fast as I could. Only problem was I was running through grass and trees. I didn't even know where it was taking me. For all I knew it was gonna be a dead end or something." She rolled her eyes, "He was behind me for a while, I could hear his steps but…. At this point I… I was just screaming and crying. I couldn't' hear anything around me." She admitted.

"How long were you running for?" Punk asked.

"I… It felt like a lifetime." Stella shook her head, "Maybe about… ten or fifteen minutes. Then I came out at the retail area, where you were." She nodded to Punk, "As soon as I saw another human being my… my legs just stopped." She nodded.

"Has anything else like this been happening lately?" Stella's mother asked.

"No, we've had no other reports like this." Punk said, "But the man that you identified from the CCTV footage earlier… he's been linked to some other activities."

"Different from this?" Stella asked.

"Stalking." Punk said as she nodded slowly, "Don't worry, ok? You're safe and we're gonna do our best to find this man, and arrest him." He said as Stella nodded, "Stella what's your second name?" He asked her, filling in blanks on the notes he was taking.

"Kiernan." Stella nodded as Punk wrote it down, pausing for a second and turning to Dean who also had a puzzled look on his face.

"You… You weren't related to Holly Kiernan, were you?" Punk asked.

"She was my older sister." Stella nodded as Punk looked across at her, "Hadn't I know that my sister's killer was murdered then I would have… I would have thought he was coming for me too." She shook her head as Punk looked across at her.

"You worked on Holly's case, didn't you?" Stella's mother nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "She was uh… she was the first-"

"Yeah." Her mother quickly nodded, "As you can imagine. I'm not thrilled to be back here." She said as Punk nodded.

"We can take a break." Punk said, "I'm really sorry you have to go through this." He said sincerely as Stella nodded to him.

"I'm really glad that you were there." Stella said, "Thank you."

"Just doing my job." Punk nodded, "Can I get you both anything? A coffee?"

"I'll take a coffee." Her mother nodded.

"I think I've had enough coffee." Stella admitted, feeling rather shaky.

"Ok." Punk said, leaving the room with Dean, closing the door over behind him and turning to his friend, "Her sister was Holly Kiernan. Don't tell me that's some bullshit coincidence." Punk said, walking through the station with Dean.

"And Stella was chased exactly like April was." Dean said, "And she got away like April did… by finding you." He nodded.

"So this guy is chasing her, he obviously stops and takes a detour and… and then he's spying on my kids again whilst I'm helping Stella… doesn't make sense." Punk shook his head.

"I still recognise his fucking face." Dean shook his head.

"We gotta find this guy." Punk said, "Like… main priority." He said as Dean nodded.

"Daddy!" Marty yelled, running in through the station with Kaia whilst AJ followed a little behind as Punk turned around with confusion.

"Daddy!" Kaia called, skipping towards her father whilst Marty was fully sprinting to reach him first.

"Hey." Punk shook his head with confusion, crouching down and catching them both in his arms, "What are you monsters doing here?" Punk asked, hugging them tightly.

"Mommy picked me up early from school." Kaia smiled happily.

"And she picked me up from Nini's early." Marty jumped up and down. They always called Nadine Nini because it was the only thing that had stuck since they first began talking.

"Well I can see that." Punk laughed a little, looking up at AJ who eventually caught up, "Did mommy pick herself up from work early too?" He looked up.

"I… decided to take a half day." AJ shrugged.

"Uncle Dean can we be your shredder again?" Kaia asked, both of them taking Dean's hands.

"Shredder?" Punk shook his head.

"Nothing." Dean said immediately, guiding the girls away quickly before any more questions were asked.

"They're always happy to see you." AJ smiled.

"Yeah, but you know how I feel about them coming here." Punk said, "And you." He said, "Why'd you take Kaia out of school early?" He asked.

"You see this is where I would say… oh, just… a one off, spend some time with my kid, take them for lunch or something but… the honest answer is… I'm scared." She admitted, "I'm scared for them, and myself." She nodded, "I couldn't even focus on my work without thinking about this guy."

"Yeah, I get it." Punk nodded.

"I know I can't just stop our lives but… it's scary." She shook her head, "Are you getting anywhere with things here?" She asked him.

"I don't even know any more." Punk admitted honestly, sitting down on his desk, "Spent all morning interviewing Stella, the girl from last night, turns out her sister was Holly Kiernan." Punk shook his head.

"As in… Norman's first victim?" AJ asked as Punk nodded, "This is her sister?"

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "And everything she said, everything that happened, it sounds exactly like what happened when you were chased." He said, "And on top of that… wait for it… we showed her footage from the CCTV of our friendly neighbourhood stalker-"

"Don't." AJ shook her head.

"Oh, yeah. She identified him as the man who chased her." Punk nodded, "And Marty saw him on that same night at the same time. He… He must have given up the chase on Stella once he saw me and the girls." He said.

"This is crazy, Phil." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded, "I mean do you think there's a link between Norman and-"

"Norman who I shot and killed?" Punk asked, "I don't know. I don't know anything. This… This could be a long day." He nodded as AJ sighed.

"I wish there was something I could do to help. I also wish… you could just come home and we could lock our door and… take a day off." She said.

"I wish that too but… I wanna get this son of a bitch. I mean now we know he's dangerous." He said as AJ sighed worriedly, "Why don't you get home with the girls. Pick out a movie, get some pizza and just… just have a girls night." He nodded.

"I like when you join in on girls night." She frowned, "And we do face masks together-"

"Yeah, ok." Punk looked around to make sure no one was listening in, "Save me one." He smiled, "And hey, please don't be scared. We're gonna get this sick bastard." He said as AJ nodded, turning over to where the girls were shredding things for Dean.

"Why do they look like they've done this before?" AJ tilted her head as Punk looked on.

"Professional shredders." Punk nodded. His family were a reminder every day of what he was fighting for, to protect, to keep safe and love. And right now more than ever, he had to fight and figure out what on earth was even going on.


	18. Pieced Together

**Pieced Together**

* * *

"I really don't feel safe going home." Stella admitted after Punk and Dean rejoined her in the interviewing room, having spent a couple more hours asking questions.

"We're gonna have a police officer stationed outside your house at all times. We'll have cops rotate in the shifts." Punk assured her, "Your safety is our number one priority." He nodded.

"Thank you." Stella smiled, "Is there anything you can tell me like… if there's a chance you'll find him?" She asked.

"We're working on it. We will find him and once we do he'll be taken in for questioning." Punk said as Stella nodded, "We have all your details, your phone number and address so the minute we get anything, even the smallest thing, we'll let you know." He assured her as Stella nodded.

"So she's supposed to stay in the house until you find him?" Her mother asked as Punk turned to her.

"If there's places you want to go, need to go, we'll have an officer escort you to and from. It's just to make sure that you're one hundred percent safe." Punk said as her mother nodded, "I'm sorry that this is happening again." He looked to her mother. He couldn't imagine the pain this woman felt. Having already lost one daughter to an act so cruel and evil, and to be going through it all over again. As a parent, his heart hurt for her.

"Thank you for being so kind." Her mother smiled. She appreciated the kindness of both Dean and Punk throughout the entire process. They weren't pushy or intimidating. They were comforting, assuring and very respectful. She really appreciated that for her young daughter's sake.

"We're not all bad." Punk nodded, "You guys can get going. There will be a cop at reception, his name is Jake and he'll take you home and stay outside the house for tonight, he'll rotate shifts in the morning with someone." He said as they both nodded. They'd asked Stella enough questions that she no longer had to be kept at the station. It was up to them to use what information she did give, wisely.

"Ok." Stella nodded, standing up and putting her jacket on tiredly, "I think I'm just gonna go home and sleep for a day." She admitted as Punk smiled.

"Sounds pretty good." Punk nodded to her as she smiled, "I'll see you later." He said casually as Stella nodded, heading to the door with her mom.

"He's so handsome." Stella whispered to her mother who just smiled and nodded in agreement, leaving the room whilst Punk sat back on his chair and turned to Dean.

"What are you thinking?" Dean asked.

"I'm thinking it's time to bust out the case file from Norman." Punk nodded, "I mean think about it. What happened to Stella was exactly what happened to April, almost identical. And it just so happens her big sister was one of Norman's first victims." He said, "And on top of that, this psychopath is also stalking my wife who was involved in Norman's killings back then." He said, "There's one common theme running through all of this shit and it's him."

"But he's dead." Dean said.

"Yeah, I know. That's why it's so damn annoying." Punk shook his head, "We gotta bust the files out anyway." He shrugged, "Just to go over it."

"Yeah." Dean nodded, "Hey, man. I can… I can do this. Your mom has surgery in two days. I can see how stressed AJ is. I don't mind if you wanna go home. I can take over." Dean assured him.

"No, I'm ok. I'll give it a few hours and then I'll call it a night." Punk nodded, "AJ was having girls night with the girls anyway."

"Oh, yeah? Saving you a face mask?" Dean stood up as Punk turned to him, "I can hear from long distances." He winked as Punk shook his head.

"Keeps my skin hydrated." Punk shrugged, standing up, collecting the folders and leaving the room with Dean.

"You boys getting anywhere?" Tony asked, bumping into them.

"Not really. It's just about finding the guy." Punk said, "We know what he looks like but… that's about it." He nodded.

"So he's tried to attack a young girl and he's also stalking you and your family?" Tony asked as Punk nodded, "You guys got the picture of him from the cctv?" He asked.

"Uh… yeah, here." Punk shimmied the paper out of the folder as Tony nodded.

"Ok, hey!" Tony yelled loudly, getting everyone's attention in the station, "Can we all take a look at this face." He told them, "Eyes opened when we're out. See anyone looking remotely like this you make a move, ok?" He said as they all looked over and nodded.

"You normally only do that with… big cases." Punk noticed.

"Yeah well I'm fed up of these bullshit guys harassing women on the streets." Tony shook his head angrily, pinning the picture up on the huge notice board at the top of the station as Punk nodded slowly, "I'll give you guys some rookies to help out." He told them.

"Hey what if it's some strange guy mimicking crimes from before?" Dean asked, "That's a thing, you know."

"Is it?" Punk turned to him.

"Yeah I… I saw it on criminal minds one time." Dean said as Tony looked at him.

"Oh then it must be true." Tony shook his head

"No, seriously… there was a case that happened in Alabama not long ago too. Some dude trying to recreate notorious killings." He said as Punk nodded, "I mean it would explain why this was identical to what happened to April."

"Seems like a bit of a reach, though." Punk said honestly.

"Bust out the files from years ago and have a look." Tony told them, "Something might jump out."

"Yeah, we're on our way." Dean nodded, "Go get us a coffee or something." He patted Tony on the shoulder.

* * *

"Mommy." Kaia said, sitting at the kitchen table with her mother and sister having dinner.

"What?" AJ turned to her.

"Why don't we say prayers before dinner?" Kaia asked her as AJ looked at her.

"What do you know about prayers?" AJ smiled a little.

"My friend at school, Layla, she says she has to say a prayer before eating her food." Kaia said.

"What's a prayer?" Marty asked curiously, "Is it like a song?" She asked cluelessly as AJ looked at them both.

"It's just something that some people do and others don't." AJ nodded.

"Well why don't we?" Kaia asked her.

"Because it's what you believe. You… You guys are too little to know about it all but… it's down to your choice." She smiled, "And when your old enough, you can make that choice."

"Seems stupid." Kaia mumbled.

"Maybe that's what you think but a lot of people really take it seriously, and we can't judge them for that." AJ made clear, "We all have our own beliefs and we gotta learn to respect that." She nodded.

"Is it like… if something likes an apple and someone doesn't like an apple? Because I like apples but if someone didn't like them then I… I wouldn't be mad." She said as AJ nodded slowly.

"You know, it's exactly like that." AJ smiled, "We all like our own things and we… believe in different things."

"I believe in Santa Clause." Marty said, "Is that a prayer?" She asked as AJ shook her head, "And I believe in the tooth fairy. And the light angel."

"The what?" AJ shook her head.

"The angel who turns my night light off during the night." Marty explained as AJ nodded slowly. It was always either her or Punk who turned her night light off during the night. But she wasn't going to tell her that now.

"Mommy do you get the tooth fairy?" Kaia asked.

"Well I did when I was young like you guys." AJ nodded, "But my teeth don't fall out anymore."

"Oh, really?" Marty asked as AJ nodded, "Interesting." She whispered.

"Where is our daddy?" Kaia asked dramatically, "He's always missing dinner." She huffed.

"He's real busy at work right now, baby. But he'll get a break soon." AJ nodded. She hoped.

"I wish I could… I could just close my eyes." Marty squeezed her eyes shut, "And when I open them he'd be here." She said, springing her eyes opened and sighing when she realised it really didn't work.

"He'll be home soon." AJ assured them, "It's girls night anyway. No daddy allowed." She told them.

"Oh, what are we doing?" Kaia smiled.

"Well I bought us some cake, most importantly." AJ told them as the girls smiled excitedly, "Matching pyjamas-"

"Oh, really?" Marty asked excitedly as AJ nodded, "What else?"

"Choice in a couple of movies and also this really fun looking bracelet making set." She nodded.

"We get to make our own bracelets?" Kaia gasped as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I saw it at the store today." AJ nodded, "Thought we'd have fun with it." She nodded.

"We will." Kaia nodded.

"Once you guys finish dinner, we can go get our pyjamas on." She smiled. She was for sure glad she had her girls to take her mind off things and keep her company. They were the best little friends she could have asked for and was so glad she had such a tight bond with them.

* * *

"Here's another pile." Dean said, dumping down more cases onto Punk's desk where Punk was sat, drinking his fourth coffee whilst slouched in his chair, looking through endless amounts of folders.

"We could be just wasting time here for all we know." Punk sighed as Dean sat down beside him.

"It's worth a try." Dean said as Punk nodded, "At least Tony is taking it seriously."

"I think he just doesn't want Norman part 2." Punk shook his head.

"Well, I don't think anyone wants that." Dean said, "You look through that case file?" He asked him.

"Yeah, and I dipped into the individual studies of all the victims and also AJ's statement." He said, "Feels weird looking at all of this again." He admitted truthfully, "What even was our break through for the case? To be honest it was all a hot mess for me at the time." He shook his head.

"Uh…" Dean reached for the folder, "Well we found where he was hiding, his parents' house or some shit, and there he had pictures of that hut, remember?" Dean nodded as Punk paused for a second.

"Wait… what?" Punk sat up.

"The hut? Remember. Where he took the bodies to-"

"I remember the hut." Punk assured him, "His parent's house…" Punk looked at Dean who was puzzled, "Did we ever find his parents?" Punk asked him as Dean looked across at him, "Did we ever find his dad?" Punk tilted his head as Dean shook his head slowly.

"Holy shit." Dean raised his eyebrows as Punk dumped the folders aside and opened up his computer.

"Norman Banks." Punk typed into the system as Dean shimmied closer, "Ok ok…" He scrolled around, finding the data history surrounding his name, "Ok, parents." He nodded, "Please have a picture." He hoped, "Please." He nodded, clicking on the link as a new page opened up with information regarding Norman's parents, including a picture.

"Bingo." Dean said quietly.

"There's our guy." Punk nodded worriedly, running his hand through his hair.


	19. Back To The Start

**Back To The Start**

* * *

"_You've got to be kidding me." AJ rolled her eyes, turning to Punk who was driving, having just turned into the small narrow road after driving for what felt like years. All she'd been seeing was trees and grass for at least twenty minutes. She realised she was definitely going to somewhere secluded._

"_What?" Punk laughed to himself, "I thought you'd like this."_

"_Why would you think I would like this?" AJ asked him with confusion._

"_Well… you're sort of anti-social." Punk shrugged._

"_No, I'm not." AJ scoffed._

"_You actually are." Punk said, "You're only friend is my brother. And that says a lot."_

"_Hey I have other friends." AJ said._

"_Name me one." Punk said, keeping his eyes on the road, "And not someone from work, that does not count."_

"_Well where else am I gonna have friends?" AJ shook her head, "I can't believe you think I'm anti-social." She said as Punk smiled to himself._

"_This house is actually pretty nice." Punk told her, "I mean… I know the circumstances of you staying here aren't exactly great but… maybe take it like a vacation."_

"_Seriously?" AJ laughed, "A vacation? A vacation is sun and… reading my book in peace and quiet, on a beach somewhere-"_

"_See, anti-social." Punk smiled, "I rest my case."_

"_Reading isn't anti-social." AJ said._

"_Are you kidding? It's not exactly social is it?" He shook his head as AJ folded her arms._

"_This is not a vacation." She sighed to herself, "I'd rather be at work. I miss work."_

"_I know, look… this isn't ideal, I get it." Punk said, "We're doing everything we can to find this guy. Especially after everything he's done to the… to the girls we've found." He said as AJ leaned her head against the window._

"_Could have happened to me." AJ nodded, "He could have got me."_

"_Well he didn't so… quit thinking like that." Punk said._

"_What would anyone get out of doing something like that?" AJ asked him, "You're a cop, you must… you must deal with things like this all the time-"_

"_Things like this? No." Punk shook his head, "Occasional murder, yeah. Not psychotic serial killers who… dismember their victims." He sighed to himself, "I haven't worked a case like this in my life."_

"_That gives me confidence." AJ sighed to herself with worry._

"_Hey, my job is to protect you and that's exactly what I'm gonna do." Punk said, "As much as you annoy me."_

"_Never thought I would have ran to you for help." AJ admitted truthfully._

"_Well I'm not all bad." He said as AJ nodded, turning to him, "For the most part."_

* * *

"Never thought I would be… back here." AJ sighed to herself, stepping into the safe house as Punk followed with the girls.

"Is this our vacation home?" Kaia asked, running into the house holding onto Bruno's leash as Punk looked around the place. He hadn't been since AJ was being kept there seven years ago. It was strange to be back.

"Yeah, baby. We're gonna stay here for a little while." AJ nodded, "Why don't you two go pick your bedroom." She said.

"Yeah, yeah… ok." Kaia smiled excitedly, running ahead for the stairs.

"Wait on me. I have smaller legs than you." Marty exclaimed, trying to catch up with her sister as Punk smiled, turning to AJ who he could see was worried and sad.

"Hey." Punk took her hand in his, "I know you hate this, I do too-"

"I don't wanna be here with the kids, Phil." AJ shook her head, "This is just a horrible place for me and… and I don't want the girls here-"

"April, they gotta be here with you, ok?" Punk nodded, "Not after what happened last week. This is the safest place for you-"

"I was taken from here." AJ said, "What if he knows where I am? His son figured it out." AJ said.

"He won't. And I'm gonna be here every night. And there will be security around." Punk nodded.

"I just can't believe we're back here." AJ shook her head, "And it's his dad this time. Like… who are these people?"

"Like father like son." Punk said, "Me and Dean are looking into it." He nodded, "You know how back then when we got into their house? We found all those papers of the dates of the victims and one was his sister?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded.

"Well… we're starting to think we maybe got the story wrong." Punk said as AJ looked at him, "Norman was sent to an all boys school when he was like thirteen which was after his sister died, right." He said as AJ nodded, "The case went cold but it was similar to his killings seven years ago." He said as AJ nodded, "Regardless, I don't think a thirteen year old would know how to kill someone and then… dissect their body." Punk shook his head.

"You think it was the dad?" AJ nodded.

"Gotta be." Punk nodded, "Dad murdered the daughter and Norman witnessed it. He saw it and that's how he got sent to the boarding school." He said, "Years later he's… he's still scarred from it and I guess… seeing your dad murder your sister… fucks you up." Punk said.

"And if he was at an all-boys boarding school, explains why his victims were all females." AJ said as Punk nodded, "But why is he targeting me?"

"Honestly, I think he's targeting us." Punk said, "I killed his son and you… you were the girl that got away." He said.

"Why now?" AJ asked, "Why is he doing this now?"

"I have… no idea." Punk sighed, "But after last week, you gotta stay here, ok?"

"What about your mom? She's a week after having major surgery. She needs someone to help her." She sighed.

"Mom is staying with Seth and Becky. She's doing good and she understands that… this isn't our fault." Punk said, "She's gonna be fine." He nodded as AJ ran her hand through her hair.

"I'm sick of this already." AJ shook her head.

"I know." Punk sighed, pulling her in for a tight hug, kissing her head as she sighed out loud, "It'll be over soon. I promise."

After discovering their stalker was indeed Norman's father, piecing it all together, Punk told AJ who was just as shocked as he was. It was then where she began getting letters posted to the hospital. Just like the ones she received from Norman years ago, emphasising on the fact she should never have gotten away. She then saw the same parked car outside the hospital one night and immediately called Punk, however, the car sped away so fast that there was no way of catching him.

The call was made to put her and the girls into the safe house, as they were very clearly being targeted and it was truly for their own safety. In a way it made sense. They never found or tracked Norman's parents. It had been forgotten about at the time and no one had really looked into the case further than the bodies they were finding. It was terrifying to feel like she was back in that same position she was in seven years ago.

"I picked my room, I picked." Marty smiled, running down the stairs excitedly, "I got the big, big one." She nodded.

"You did?" Punk smiled, pulling back from the hug with AJ.

"Yes and Kaia got the next big one. So that means mommy and daddy are in the small one." Marty smirked as Kaia came downstairs, holding onto her owl.

"Where is the pool?" Kaia asked with confusion as AJ turned to Punk with a smile.

"There's no pool here." Punk laughed a little. They had gone on a few vacations to different villas and homes where there had been a swimming pool in the garden. But it wasn't quite like that.

"Oh." Kaia frowned.

"I can run you a huge bath and we can pretend it's a pool?" AJ suggested.

"Yeah!" Kaia exclaimed, "Let's do that."

"Bruno, let's go into the kitchen." Marty picked up Bruno's leash and ran off into the kitchen with him as AJ smiled.

"Weird to be back here with them." AJ turned to Punk who nodded.

"Yeah, it is." He realised, "At least it's not just you in here like last time." He said as AJ nodded.

"This isn't what I wanted to be a part of their childhood." AJ shook her head.

"They're not gonna know anything. This is just a vacation for them." Punk nodded, "We'll get this guy." He said as AJ nodded. She knew he was under so much stress. It wasn't just his job now, it was his family in danger. That on top of Nadine just getting out of her major surgery. It was a really stressful and worrying time.

"Don't carry this all on your own." She took his hand, "Promise me."

"I promise." Punk nodded, kissing her gently, "I gotta go." He told her as she nodded, "No climbing out the window." He said as she smiled softly.

"I'll try not to." AJ said, squeezing his hand as he smiled and left the house. He couldn't they were back here again.

* * *

"How is she holding up?" Dean asked, sitting with Punk at their desk whilst they did their research on Norman's father, who they knew was called Jensen. They were turning their attention to his records, his information and history, to try and piece together where he could possibly be.

"Not good." Punk said, "Between worrying about my mom and just hating being at that house again… and there's nothing I can do to help, apart from try and find this bastard." Punk shook his head.

"Which we will." Dean nodded.

"Has anyone been down at the old hut?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah, it got burned down a couple years ago. There's nothing there anymore. Must have been some kids." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"And what about the house?" Punk asked.

"It got renovated and resold." Dean said, "It's just some other family living there now." He said as Punk nodded.

"So where is this psycho living then?" Punk asked himself, "He's gotta have killed the daughter, right? I mean it pretty much checks out. And April made a good point earlier about Norman being at an all-boys boarding school and all of his victims are females." He said as Dean nodded.

"So psycho runs in the family then?" Dean nodded.

"Wonder where the mom is." Punk said, sitting back on his chair.

"He probably killed her." Dean shook his head as Punk played with his pen and sighed, throwing the pen down and running his hand through his hair as Dean looked at him, "Hey, man I know this is going slow but… we'll get him."

"This is my wife and kids." Punk said, "This sick bastard has been watching them and… and then sending April the letters. Did you read what they said?" He asked him as Dean nodded, "April's fucking terrified, I know she is, and I… I can't do anything about it. I'm trying but nothing is fucking coming up." He shook his head. Being a cop was frustrating at the best of times, but when it involved his own family, he just couldn't sit still and he was running out of patience. Their safety wasn't something to be messed with.

"Something will come up. It always does." Dean nodded, "Look, this guy worked in a shoe factory. We'll take a trip out there and we'll ask around, see if anyone has anything interesting to say. April is safe. So are the girls." He said as Punk sighed to himself.

"He wants to be found." Punk figured, "Because… why send the letters?"

"Or it's probably the case that he realised we figured him out." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"Hey, you two." Tony walked down the station to collect them, "Come with me. You're gonna wanna see this." He nodded as Punk turned to Dean.

"Please… please do not take me to a dismembered body." Punk stood up as Dean followed.

"No, don't worry." Tony said, heading for his office and walking on in as they followed behind, "This was found a few blocks my house, wrapped up in a towel behind a dumpster." He said, uncovering the gun sitting on his table as Punk and Dean looked at it.

"People do use guns these days, Tony." Dean nodded.

"Yeah, smartass. I know." Tony said, "I kept the bullets that were fired on Halloween." He told them as Punk raised his eyebrows, "Got an investigator to see if the grooves matched and what do you know… they do." He said as Punk looked at him.

"This right here is… on the very bottom of my list right now." Punk nodded, "Very bottom."

"Oh, really?" Tony asked, "Because I just got DNA profile back from the gun. Jensen Banks." He nodded, "So before all these little mind games he's started playing, I think he straight up just wanted to take us all out." He nodded, throwing the DNA match down on the table as Punk looked at it and sighed.


	20. Late Night Chat

**Late Night Chat**

* * *

AJ had woke up through the night, hearing Punk come home. She couldn't believe she was really waking up in the same place she was all those years ago. Where she was at her lowest. She hated that they had to leave their home, that they had to take the girls from their lives, but she knew it was unsafe, and it was the right call.

She got out of the bed and grabbed a hoodie, pulling it over her and walking out of the bedroom. She'd spent the night curled up in bed with the girls, eating cookies and watching Scooby-Doo. If there was one thing different from the last time she was here, it was that she had her own family, something to comfort her more than just books and puzzles.

She walked down the staircase, walking through the entrance way and into the large kitchen where Punk was sat around the island eating from a tube of Pringles.

"There's my husband, snacking in a dark kitchen at 3am." AJ smiled as Punk turned around.

"I'm too tired to make something." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded, walking over to him, "How was your night?" He asked her as she sat down beside him on a stool, taking a few pringles from the tube that he extended to her.

"Scooby-Doo." AJ summed up, "Cookies" She said.

"Nice." Punk nodded, "Which Scooby-Doo?"

"Zombie Island." AJ said.

"My favourite." Punk smiled.

"They were asking why we were here." AJ nodded, "And that it's not a vacation if daddy is working. They're not idiots." AJ said.

"No, but they're also not gonna understand why we're here." Punk said, "Right now, it's a vacation." He said, "When they're sixteen, sure, we tell them that a serial killers father who is potentially just as evil as his son, was stalking us and sending you threats." He said.

"Can't wait for that conversation." AJ nodded, "How'd you get on at the station tonight?"

"Well… Tony found a gun and he had the bullet grooves matched with the bullets he kept from the shoot out on Halloween." He said, "And they matched."

"Really?" AJ shook her head.

"Even better, the DNA from the gun was Jensen's." Punk nodded, "So it looks like he wanted to just take us all out at first but… now I guess he's enjoying the games."

"That was him?" AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Makes sense I guess." Punk nodded, "Me and Dean are going to his last known work place to ask around tomorrow. And Tony's got some rookies working with us. Normally I wouldn't be opposed to that idea but they're actually helpful with stuff." He said, "And we've upped Stella's security just to be on the safe side."

"You're doing everything you can." AJ nodded.

"Just feels like it's not enough." Punk turned to her, "I just wanna find the son of a bitch."

"I know. I do too, and we will." AJ said, "I know this is the last place I wanted to end up coming back to but… it's where I'm safe. It's where the girls are safe. I mean, that man obviously knows where we live, where I work, he's been watching the girls too… we can't risk that." She said, "I'll stay here for as long as I need to as long as I'm with you and our kids." She assured him.

"I know but… the girls are gonna miss their things, and my mom, Seth-"

"How is your mom doing?" AJ asked him.

"Seth text earlier and said she was just resting a lot, which is good because normally she's stubborn." He said, "She's doing good and she'll start her chemo in a few weeks." He nodded.

"Good." AJ nodded, "I wish I could have been there to help her. This just… isn't fair." She sighed.

"I know, she understands." Punk nodded, "I spoke to your work too and the same drill applies like last time. They're just putting you off on paid leave."

"It's just crazy that I'm back here." AJ admitted as Punk nodded.

"Tell me about it." Punk said, "I'm just sorry this shit is happening to you again."

"It's not your fault." AJ shook her head, "I mean… these are just good stories that we can tell our grandkids one day." She shrugged as Punk smiled.

"You and I were having very different conversations back then to what we are now." He smiled as she nodded, "You ever thought this would happen?"

"What? Us getting together?" AJ asked him, "Or coming back here?"

"Getting together." He nodded.

"At the time, I guess I didn't know." AJ said, "I still kept you in my distance." She nodded, "And I guess I was scared that we did get together and it didn't work out. Because it did feel so good." She nodded.

"Well I think it worked out alright." Punk nodded, "It was right here actually, wasn't it? Right there on that floor." He pointed over as AJ looked, "First time I ever came in you was right there." He pointed as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Poetic." AJ nodded as he chuckled, "Don't you worry, I remember." She smiled to herself as he nodded, "And you avoided me the next day and sent Dean to check up on me."

"I got nervous." Punk shrugged.

"Why? Because you had sex with actual emotions involved?" She figured.

"Yeah, exactly. It was a scary time for me. I… I didn't know where my head was at." Punk said as she smiled, "And then came the fear of telling Seth." He shook his head.

"Was I really your first proper girlfriend?" AJ asked him as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Well… I had a girlfriend in high school but she was kinda annoying. I didn't really like her actually." He admitted truthfully as AJ nodded to herself, "But yeah, you were my first." He smiled, "I always used my job as an excuse, that it was too difficult to have a girlfriend in the midst of it all but I was just too scared to commit to something. Or… too scared to let myself attach to someone." He said as AJ nodded, "But, I'd say my first proper girlfriend turned out to be a successful relationship, huh?"

"Oh, well clearly." AJ nodded.

"How'd I do compared to all the other guys you've dated?" He smiled.

"Eh." AJ shrugged, teasing him as he smiled, "I've not dated that many." She laughed a little, "I've been on dates here and there but I never really had a boyfriend for a long time." She said, "You were just different. I already knew you."

"It's weird how it… it didn't feel weird." Punk nodded, "Right?"

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "So until me you just… you just slept around?" AJ looked at him.

"Pretty much." Punk said, "Not exactly proud of it." He nodded.

"I've never had a one night stand." AJ admitted truthfully.

"Never?" Punk questioned as she shook her head.

"Never." AJ said, "I've always been dating the guy or seeing him." She said.

"Well too bad you'll never experience it now." Punk said, "I've locked that ass down." He nodded, checking her ass out behind as she smiled and nodded.

"And I think I'm ok with that." AJ smiled.

"You know what's nice?" Punk asked her.

"What?" AJ smiled.

"Just talking to you like normal." Punk nodded.

"What do you mean?" AJ laughed a little.

"Well recently it's just been constant talk about this guy and what we're gonna do. It's nice to just… forget about him for a little while." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ smiled, rubbing his arm softly, "You'll get him. Guys like him can run and hide all they want but… they always get found out." She nodded, "Did you look into more about him potentially killing his own daughter?"

"No, we got caught up in the whole shoot out on Halloween thing." Punk said, "It does make sense…. Well, of course it doesn't make sense to us but… it fits." He said.

"How anyone could hurt their own child is… it's just so hard to understand." AJ shook her head, "I yell at the girls if they're acting up and… and I feel terrible, like I'm the worst parent to ever exist." AJ said, "I just… I couldn't comprehend any of it."

"Yeah, it's not something that can be understood I don't think." Punk said, "But say he did kill his daughter. Why? For what reason?" He shook his head.

"Because he's not human, Phil. Just like Norman. They're sick in the brain." She said, "Maybe… Maybe he even told Norman that it was ok, and that's why he turned out the way he did." She shook her head, "I don't know."

"Kinda like Norman was trying to be like his dad or something?" Punk shrugged as AJ nodded.

"You think people are born like that? Like is it… genetic?" AJ shrugged, "Or is it maybe in this case a bit of both. Genetic but also the environment that you grow up in."

"You do a whole six months at the academy on nature vs nurture. Trying to understand the psychology of it." Punk nodded.

"And what do you think it is?" AJ asked.

"I think there's all sorts of factors. When it comes to serial killers and… dismembering bodies, I… I don't know." Punk shook his head.

"What about just a one-off murder?" AJ asked him.

"There's a lot of factors." Punk nodded, "Every scenario is different." He said, "Years ago I was on a case and we arrested this woman who murdered her boyfriend. She bought a gun and she shot him." He said, "We're all quick to judge but we got deeper into the case and… we got talking to her a lot more. He was abusive, he raped her, she'd already suffered sexual abuse growing up in her home." He said, "And you gotta think… does all of that stuff just… become too much for someone? I think it would." He nodded.

"I guess you have to put yourself in their shoes." AJ nodded, "Someone's always got a story." She said, "And the world is as frightening as ever right now." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, it is." Punk said, "I mean do you know the amount of reports we've had in the past month of women being sexually harassed, on the streets, at their jobs, at the store, the gym…" He sighed, "I mean we're living in a world right now that… if someone opens up about being raped or abused, the first thing that we look at is… what they did to make that happen… what did they wear? What did they? Did they give them signs by staring at them? Did they smile?" He sighed as AJ nodded, "It's fucking ridiculous."

"I forget you must see all of this a lot more." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"It sucks." Punk said, "Just last week we had a gay man come into the station, all beaten up, said he was walking home from work and he got jumped on the streets." He said, "I mean… why are people so concerned about what other people are doing? What is the issue with loving… who you wanna love? Same or opposite sex?" Punk asked her.

"There shouldn't be an issue." AJ nodded.

"There shouldn't." Punk agreed, "Kaia or Marty come to me and they tell me they got a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend one day? Great, can't wait to meet her." Punk said as AJ smiled and nodded, "We just… we all gotta be nicer to each other." He ran his hand through his hair as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, we do." AJ agreed, "It's just turning into a world where, people are disguising their blatant racism and homophobic slander by… telling people they're allowed an opinion." AJ said, "Being different is what makes everyone beautiful in their own way."

"Yeah well some people just don't get that yet." Punk shook his head, "I want the girls to know that they're perfect, whatever they choose to be or whoever they choose to be." He said.

"I think you'll do a good job of making sure they know that." AJ smiled, hugging into his arm.

"Man we got deep tonight." Punk raised his eyebrows as AJ nodded.

"Yeah. Not the usual kind of deep." She looked up at him as he chuckled and nodded.

"I think I can fit you in for the usual kind." He nodded.

"Yeah?" AJ smiled, leaning up and kissing him softly, placing her hands on his shoulder as he deepened the kiss, standing up and lifting her onto the kitchen counter as she smiled and began to pull at his clothes. Having each other throughout this was extremely helpeful.


	21. Hidden Gem

**Hidden Gem**

* * *

"I don't think this is going to be all that useful but… it's worth a try I guess." Punk said, slamming the car door shut and walking on into the factory which Jensen used to work at. It was his last noted job they had found out and were taking a chance that someone might have worked with him at some point.

"Hey you never know." Dean said, "How are things living at the safe house? Isn't it weird that… last time you and April hated each other… well, pretended to hate each other, and now this time you're back married with two kids." He said.

"I would have really preferred to not go back." Punk admitted, "But yeah, it is weird." He said, "But they're safe there. I wouldn't feel good if they were at the house and I was out at the station. This guy obviously knows where we live. He's been watching us for… god knows how long." He sighed to himself.

"Yeah, they need to be there. Especially after the letters." Dean said as Punk nodded, walking on into the factory.

They found a manager as they felt it would be easier to locate anyone who possibly knew Jensen.

"How can I help you both?" An older man asked as Punk and Dean showed him their badges.

"We're uh… we're just looking to find out if anyone here worked with a guy called Jensen Banks." Punk nodded, "He worked here between 1990 and 1997." Punk said, "You got any workers here who was still working then?" He asked.

"Yeah, we've got quite a lot." The man nodded, "Your best bet is to talk to Bill. He's a janitor now for the factory. He's… eighty three I think." He said, "He was working down on the ground level during that time I'm sure."

"Is Bill here right now?" Dean asked.

"Normally takes his coffee break around now. He'll be in the staff room just down the hall there." He pointed, "Anything else I can do, let me know."

"Thank you." Punk nodded gratefully, walking down the hall with Dean.

"Nice guy. Always appreciate that." Dean nodded to himself, walking down the hall and into the staff room where they saw an older man sitting at the table, watching the TV whilst having his coffee.

"Uh sir…" Punk said quietly, so not to startle him.

Bill turned around and looked at them both, "I ain't done shit." Bill defended immediately as Dean smiled to himself, "If it's about my neighbour… those flowers were dead and it was dark-"

"No no…" Punk shook his head, "No, we're just… we're wondering if you could maybe help us." He said as Bill looked at them.

"With what?" Bill asked as Punk and Dean walked further into the room, taking a seat at the table.

"Did you happen to work with a guy called Jensen Banks between 1990 and 1997?" Punk asked him as Bill looked across at him.

"I did." Bill said, "Why?"

"We're following up a case where we believe he is our… suspect." Punk nodded, "We're trying to locate him but we've not got much information on him. We were hoping maybe there was something you could tell us, even just the smallest of details can help." He said as Bill sat back.

"He never spoke to anyone." Bill shrugged, "And if… if anyone did speak to him he would just look at them. I mean, that man worked here for seven years and I… I never heard him speak a word." He shook his head as Dean turned to Punk.

"What about his family? Did you know about them?" Dean asked.

"Knew about his daughter being murdered when she was younger. So we all just thought he was kinda scarred from that." Bill nodded, "He was always late on Sunday's. Always." He remembered.

"Do you know why?" Punk asked.

"No." Bill shook his head, "But it was always a Sunday." He said, "Bit of a strange man." He nodded.

"Mhm." Punk nodded with agreement, "Do you know if he took part in any activities out with work? Hobbies or anything?"

"No, well he always looked sort of beaten up and bruised… I figured he maybe boxed on the side. It was quite common at that time." He told them.

"He was always beaten up?" Punk asked.

"Well not always but… there was a couple of occasions I took notice." Bill said, "Say what's this crime you think he's involved in?"

"We can't really say." Dean nodded.

"Oh, go on. Tell me." Bill smiled.

"We really can't." Punk said, "Is there anything else you remember about him that could help us find him?"

"No, I'm sorry." Bill shook his head, "That's all I got. He didn't really associate with anyone." He said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah we sort of figured that." Punk said.

"He always wore a cross around his neck." Bill nodded, "I think he was very religious."

"Of course he was." Dean mumbled, "Well thank you, if there's anything else you remember, call into the station, yeah?"

"I sure will." Bill nodded, watching as they got up and left the room.

"Knew that would be useless." Punk shook his head, walking out of the room with Dean.

* * *

"I miss Nini, why can't we see her?" Marty asked, sitting on the grass with AJ and Kaia. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous day, so AJ encouraged the girls to go out and play, but they got super fed up really quickly.

AJ was lying back on the grass reading her book whilst Kaia was playing on her switch and Marty was… bored.

"We'll see her soon, baby. I promise." AJ nodded

"Not soon, mommy. Now." Marty sighed, "And Uncle Seth too." She frowned, "I miss doing his hair."

"I know you do, angel. We're not gonna be here for long, I promise. But look how beautiful this garden is." AJ said, sitting up and closing her book over, "You guys should be playing."

"Playing what?" Marty asked sassily, "What are you reading?" She asked, walking over and sitting down on AJ's lap as AJ laughed a little.

"It's an adult book." AJ told her.

"I love the tiger who came to tea. That's my favourite book." Marty told her mother.

"I know it is. It's upstairs, isn't it?" AJ asked her as Marty nodded, leaning against her mother.

"Can we read it later?" Marty asked.

"Of course we can." AJ smiled, kissing her cheek as Marty giggled, "How about some lunch for you both?" She asked, tapping Kaia on her shoulder who removed her headphones and looked over, "Lunch?"

"Yeah." Kaia nodded.

"What do you guys fancy?" She asked, standing up and shifting Marty to the side.

"A sandwich." Kaia nodded.

"Ok, I can do that." AJ nodded, "Don't go beyond that tree over there." She warned as they nodded.

She walked off back into the house and took things out to make the girls some lunch. They had a cop car outside the house at all times with different officers coming and going, as well as security connections to the station. She did feel safe, regardless of what happened to her the last time.

She began making up the sandwiches, heading to the fridge to get some juice boxes for the girls. It was then she looked out the window, to get a quick glance at the girls to see what they were up to, when she couldn't see them.

She dropped the juice boxes onto the counter and walked over to the door quickly, looking out where she couldn't see them at all.

"Girls!" AJ called, stepping back out into the garden. It was a huge space with so much grass going on for miles and miles, "Girls!" AJ exclaimed, beginning to run further down the grass as she couldn't see them.

Her heart was beating so fast, like it was going to explode out of her chest as she began running down the grass. She automatically thought of the worst as she continued to sprint, calling out their names in almost a scream of desperation.

"Mommy, we're here." Marty exclaimed, waving her hands over by a tree where her and Kaia were standing.

"Oh my God." AJ gulped, almost feeling like she was going to throw up, looking over at them and placing her hand on her chest. She'd never felt so relieved in all her life.

"We're here." Kaia waved at her, both of them wondering why she looked so scared.

"I told you not to go past that tree up there." AJ pointed, rushing over to them and pulling them in for a hug tightly, squeezing their little bodies and kissing their cheeks.

"Too tight." Marty complained.

"You don't wander off like that. Ever." AJ told them, "Not even here, ok?" She looked at them both, "You really scared, mommy." AJ said as Kaia frowned.

"Sorry, mommy." Kaia shook her head.

"We didn't mean to." Marty said, placing her little hands on AJ's cheeks as AJ took her hands in hers.

"I know, but… you can't wander off, ok? Promise me." She said.

"Promise." Marty said immediately.

"Yeah, promise." Kaia added.

"Ok." AJ sighed, wrapping her arms around them both tightly and closing her eyes.

* * *

"Phil, I swear I was having a heart attack." AJ shook her head, walking around the bed where Punk was already lying in, "Actually I think I definitely had a heart attack." AJ nodded, getting into bed beside him.

"It's really not like them to wander off." Punk said.

"I know, that's why I got so scared." AJ said, "I… I didn't even know what to do. I just started running." She shook her head, "I think they could tell how scared I was. They didn't leave my side for the rest of the day." AJ said.

"What were they even doing?" Punk asked.

"They were carving stuff onto the tree." AJ nodded, "It's just because I told them not to go beyond the tree, you know the first one closest to the house?" She said as he nodded, "And then I went in to the house to make lunch and I looked out the window… they were just gone." AJ said, "My heart literally dropped."

"Well they're ok." He turned to her, "Ok? They're safe."

"I know but I was literally terrified." AJ shook her head, "I… I don't know what I would do if anything happened to them."

"Nothing is gonna happen to them." Punk said, "They're safe and they're tucked into bed, they've got their little stuffed toys and no one is gonna hurt them." He said, turning onto his side and looking at her as she nodded.

"How was your day? How'd it go at the factory?" AJ asked him.

"Useless as I thought. We did speak to a guy who was there when Jensen worked there but he said that he didn't speak to anyone, he was quiet and avoided everyone." Punk said, "Which I totally expected."

"Something will show up. You just gotta keep looking." AJ nodded, taking his hand in hers softly.

"Yeah, I know. I just… I want it over so we can go home." He said, "So the girls can go home and you can feel safe again." He shook his head.

"We will be safe again." AJ nodded. She knew there was no point in being pessimistic. It wasn't going to get them anywhere, "Your mom sent me and the girls some things. Mark outside gave me it this morning. A package. She must have got Seth to send it into the station. She could have just gave it to you." She shrugged.

"What was in it?" Punk asked.

"Just some things for the girls." AJ nodded, "Oh and this really comfortable bath robe she got me." She said, getting out of bed and going to collect it as Punk smiled.

"Looks good." He nodded, looking at her putting the bath robe on.

"Yeah, she sent it with a little card. I mean… I'm the one supposed to be getting her things after her surgery." AJ shook her head.

"Seth said she's doing really good." Punk nodded, "Taking it slow but it's going well." He said as AJ nodded, "That looks good on you."

"It's so comfortable." AJ smiled, "I wanna wear this and nothing else to church on Sunday." She smirked, twirling the strings around as Punk laughed and nodded with a smile, watching her climb onto the bed, stripping off the bath robe and climbing over him as Punk paused for a second.

"Wait… what?" Punk shook his head.

"What?" AJ looked at him.

"Church." He looked at her as AJ looked back with confusion, "Sundays he… he was always late… and he wore a cross… he must go to church." He sat up immediately as AJ climbed off of him, "I gotta call Dean."


	22. Get Got

**Get Got**

* * *

"How do you know he's gonna be here?" Dean asked, sitting in the passenger's side of the car with Punk on Sunday morning. They were parked outside of a busy church where families and all different people had went into for the usual Sunday service.

"He was late every Sunday. That's what Bill said. And he wore a cross. He was super religious." He said, "Mix religion with psychopathic tendencies and you come up with the answer." He nodded.

"So you think this is all to do with his religion?" Dean asked.

"I don't know, Dean. I don't. And at this point, I really don't even care. I just want this guy out of my life so my kids can go fucking home." He shook his head as Dean nodded slowly. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to have been in Punk's shoes. He knew he was desperate now.

"They do more services than Sunday morning." Dean said, "At this church anyway."

"How do you know?" Punk asked.

"My mom went to this church." Dean nodded as Punk turned to him and nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry, I… I knew that." Punk sighed, "Hey if… if this is too hard for you then, I can do this on my own-"

"No way." Dean said, "No, I'm here and I'm helping you."

"How long is that she's been gone now?" Pun asked him.

"Uh… I was sixteen so… nineteen almost twenty years." Dean nodded, "Damn, that long." He realised.

"You know you should uh…. You should talk to April some time. About it." Punk nodded, "Her mom tried to kill herself-"

"My mom did kill herself." Dean said, "Not much to talk about."

"She grew up in the same sort of environment as you did." Punk nodded.

"Didn't she live with you at your place for most of her upbringing?" Dean smiled a little.

"Well… yeah, but she still went home from time to time." Punk said, "All I'm saying is, I'm sure you could both understand a lot of things together, and maybe even… not understand a lot of things together." He said as Dean nodded to him and smiled softly.

"Yeah, maybe." Dean smiled.

"You still not talking to your dad?" Punk asked him.

"Nah, fuck that guy." Dean shook his head, looking over at the church, "Don't need him now and he… doesn't need me." He said as Punk nodded.

"Wonder what it's like to have a good dad, huh?" Punk laughed as Dean turned to him with a smile.

"I'll ask Marty and Kaia." Dean nodded to him seriously as Punk turned to him with a smile. It wasn't like them to get soppy or get too personal, even though they were very close friends. It took a lot for both of them to open up, but when they did, they always felt comfortable.

"I uh… I left them making pancakes with AJ at the house." Punk nodded.

"What's it like?" Dean asked.

"What?" Punk asked.

"Being a dad." Dean nodded as Punk turned to him, "You've been doing it for five years now. You must have something to say about it." He said as Punk laughed a little.

"It's… the most rewarding thing I've ever done." Punk nodded, "And also the most terrifying." He said as Dean smiled, "I look at these little people and it's like… woah, that's… that's my entire world right there." He nodded to himself as Dean smiled.

"Sounds like a pretty cool feeling." Dean nodded.

"Yeah, it is." Punk smiled.

"Ok, look." Dean sat up once noticing church was finished with people spilling out of the building to their cars.

"Ok, come on out you bastard." Punk sat up and looked over, watching all the people spill out of the door to their cars, "You see him?" He asked.

"No." Dean shook his head, looking on.

"Me neither." Punk sighed, "What other times do they do services?"

"I'm sure this one has a night time one on a Sunday too." Dean nodded, "We could come back then and if we don't see him we could… go in and talk to the priest-"

"I will literally burn in that place." Punk said.

"And Jensen won't?" Dean asked as Punk nodded to himself, "Priest might know a thing or two about him."

"Yeah, maybe." Punk nodded.

* * *

"You're going back again tonight?" AJ asked, standing in the kitchen with Punk whilst the girls were sat at the kitchen table drawing pictures.

"Yeah. He didn't show up this morning." Punk said, "And if we can't spot him tonight then… we're gonna go into the church and ask the priest."

"Good luck with that." AJ rolled her eyes, "You really think a priest is gonna tell you anything?"

"No, but it's worth a try." Punk said, "Ideal scenario is… he's there and we can get our hands on him." He nodded.

"How do you even know that he goes to church? And if he does, that one?" AJ asked.

"I just… I have a feeling." Punk nodded to himself, "And I'm not gonna pick now to go against my feelings." He said as AJ nodded, "How did pancakes go?" He ased, looking over at the girls, smiling to himself as he watched them talk nonsense to one another and draw their little pictures.

"They were pretty good actually. I'm getting better." AJ smiled as Punk nodded, "There's a couple left over there if you want to try."

"I'll have them later when I get back." Punk smiled to her, "Really hyping myself up to get this bastard tonight." He nodded to her.

"Try not to. It might not go to plan." AJ said, "He'll be found eventually. Whether it's you or it's someone else spotting him." She said.

"I wanna be the one to get him." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"You going with Dean?" AJ asked him.

"Yeah." Punk said, "I forgot his mom always went to that church. I…. I didn't even think." He sighed.

"His mom?" AJ shook her head.

"Yeah. She killed herself when Dean was sixteen." Punk nodded as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't… I didn't know that." AJ frowned.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "She was always super nice to me. Same type of person as my mom. I… I couldn't believe it." He said, "People can put on the biggest smiles, you know."

"I know." AJ nodded to him.

"I said to Dean that… if there was anyone he needed to talk to about it, you'd… you'd maybe be able to help." Punk nodded.

"Me?" AJ shook her head.

"Yeah, well… what you went through with your mom." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I'd be happy to talk to him if he ever needed it. I'm sure he knows that." She said as Punk nodded, "I never knew that about his mom."

"Yeah, he was in a bad way." Punk nodded, "And his dad only stuck around until he was old enough to take care of himself." He said.

"Parents, huh?" AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"I should get going." Punk nodded, standing up from the island at the kitchen.

"You only just got back." AJ frowned.

"I know I was just checking in." Punk said, wrapping his arms around her waist as she looked up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Be careful." AJ said, "I don't want that church putting you up in flames." She teased as Punk smiled.

"I'm not that bad." Punk smiled as AJ nodded.

"I know." She whispered, "You're good." She smiled, rubbing his chest softly before leaning her head against it.

"I really hope I can walk through that door tonight and tell you we got him." Punk said, resting his chin on her head softly.

"I believe in you." She said, "If it's not tonight, it'll be soon." She nodded, pulling back and looking up at him, "Just be careful, please."

"I'm always careful." He teased as AJ smiled and nodded.

"I love you." She said playfully, flicking his chin sweetly as he smiled.

"I love you too." Punk said, leaning down and kissing her sweetly as she kissed back, cupping his face and pulling him closer as Punk pulled back, laughing a little against her lips, "Children present." He reminded her.

"Damn it." AJ looked over as Punk smiled.

"I'll get you later." He nudged her as she smiled, "Ok, munchkins. I'm loving and leaving you again." He said, walking over to the girls.

"No, daddy. Just stay." Kaia frowned.

"I'll be back later, I promise." He said, leaning down to kiss both their cheeks. Whilst he got to plant a kiss on Kaia's, Marty moved her head away and looked at him unhappily, "What?" Punk laughed.

"No kisses." Marty told him.

"Why not?" Punk shook his head.

"Don't like them." Marty said.

"You liked them yesterday." Punk said.

"Well I don't like them today." Marty explained, "You should just stay."

"I know but I gotta go to work." Punk said, "And I can't go until I get my kiss." He told her.

"Guess you can't go then." Marty smirked deviously as Punk quickly planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Ah ha!" He smiled.

"No." Marty whined, pushing him away as Punk chuckled to himself.

"I stole a kiss." Punk hummed as Marty looked over at him.

"Daddy, I'll get you back later." She pointed angrily as Punk smiled.

"I'm sure you will." He chuckled, saying goodbye to them before leaving the house.

* * *

"You see him?" Dean asked later on, parked back at the church as they watched the people leave the church after the service.

"No." Punk shook his head, looking on closely.

"Me neither." Dean sighed.

"Let's just go in." Punk shook his head, getting out of the car as Dean joined him, "Packing?" He asked Dean.

"Mhm." Dean said, walking down the street and into the church grounds.

"Spit on me if I burst into flames in here." Punk said as Dean smiled, walking up the church steps and into the building.

"Maybe he doesn't even go to church, or maybe it's not this one." Dean said.

"It's worth asking." Punk said, slowly walking into the church and pausing, looking around at the rows of seats, looking across at the altar.

"Is it just me or… do these creep you out?" Dean whispered.

"I am… definitely creeped out." Punk whispered back. It was eerily quiet, like if a pin dropped they would hear it right away.

"Can I help you?" A voice echoed from across the church as they turned around, looking across at the priest standing at a side door, still dressed in his robes from the service he'd just taken.

"Uh… hi." Punk nodded, "Sorry for barging in." Punk said, "Do we need like… permission or something?" He wondered as Dean rolled his eyes.

"No, idiot." Dean whispered to him.

"No." The priest smiled, "Is there something I can help you with?" He asked them, walking towards them.

"Yeah, actually… we were just-" Punk was cut off as a loud gunshot echoed through the church, watching as the priest collapsed down, his white robes spilling out with blood as Punk and Dean immediately grabbed their guns out.

Punk looked up worriedly, staring around the church until he finally saw their wanted man standing on the altar with a gun pointed at them.

"Put the gun down!" Dean yelled loudly, echoing through the entire church as Punk looked across at Jensen, "Put it down!" Dean demanded as Punk looked over, analysing the scene as he watched Jensen point the gun towards Dean.

All he had was an initial reaction to help his friend, pushing him out the way and holding his gun up in his place.

Both guns were fired at the same time and he watched as he got Jensen on the arm, watching him fall down the altar stairs, lowering his own gun as he felt one side of his body go numb, placing his hand on the back of a seat to keep himself up, looking down at his chest, placing his other hand over it which immediately coated his hand in blood, groaning to himself as Dean looked over in shock.

"Hey… hey, no… no, what the fuck." Dean scurried over to Punk who dropped to the floor, "Shit… no." Dean's voice cracked, pulling his phone out and calling for back-up and an ambulance, keeping his eyes over on Jensen who was also down on the ground.

"I'm fine." Punk whispered.

"You're shot, motherfucker." Dean shook his head, his voice in a squeal of disbelief, "Why'd you fucking push me?" Dean said, placing his hand on Punk's wound, watching his friend's eyes start to go back and forth, "Hey, man." Dean said loudly, "Don't do that shit." He shook his head, "Don't fucking do that." He grabbed Punk's face.


	23. Dangerous Area

**Dangerous Area**

* * *

"Please come back to me, baby." AJ shook her head, looking through the tears in her eyes as she gripped her husband's hand tightly, sitting by the bed, not taking her eyes from him, "Please." She begged desperately, tears running down her face.

The room was dim, the only source of light coming from all the monitors wired to her husband. She couldn't believe she was here, watching him like this. It broke her heart into two pieces.

"April." Tracy, one of the doctors in the intensive care unit walked into the room, "April, visiting hours are over now. I'm sorry." Tracy nodded as AJ ignored her, looking on at Punk, staring at his chest as it raised and fell, crying to herself as Tracy looked at her.

"April, you're gonna have to leave now, sweetheart." Tracy nodded

"I'm not leaving." AJ made clear bluntly, holding onto Punk's hand in hers.

"He's in good hands, ok? And you're his first contact. We call you first if… if anything happens-"

"You mean he dies?" AJ turned to her as Tracy looked over at her.

"It's hosptial policy, you have to leave. You know it is." Tracy sighed, "I'm so sorry."

"I'm not leaving." AJ shook her head.

"April-"

"No, I am not leaving this god damn hospital!" AJ stood up and yelled, "Do you understand me?" She spat, "I am not leaving this room until he wakes up. Got it?" AJ spat angrily through her tears as Tracy looked across at her.

"I'll… I'll give you a minute." Tracy said, backing up and leaving the room as AJ sat back down beside the bed, taking his hand in hers again. She couldn't really process seeing him like this. He was always the tough one. Her protection and safety. Seeing him like this broke her heart to pieces.

She heard the door open up again and shook her head, "I am not leaving this room." She spat.

"It's just me." Dean said quietly as AJ turned around, "Just me." He put his hands up as AJ stared at him, not saying a word to him, "How… How is he doing?"

AJ ignored him and continued to stare at Punk. In her head she was pleading that he would just wake up. That he would wake up and tell her everything would be ok. She hadn't ever been in this position before where he was the vulnerable one and she was the one holding on to hope.

"AJ." Dean tried to get her attention.

"What?" AJ turned to him bluntly.

"W-What are the doctors saying?" Dean asked as AJ looked at him. He wasn't dumb, he could see the way he was looking at her.

"They're saying he should be dead." AJ turned back around, looking at Punk, not letting go of his hand, "His sternum is shattered. He has a… collapsed lung." AJ took a deep breath, "And he's had three blood transfusions." AJ said, "But yeah, Dean… he's… he's really good." AJ nodded to him as Dean looked at her, watching her begin to cry.

"Hey, come here" Dean sighed, walking over to her.

"No, stay away." AJ warned, "Stay away from me."

"April-"

"This should have been you." AJ looked at him as Dean stared across at her. She was only saying what he was thinking. Seeing his best friend in this way, such a vulnerable and unsafe place, knowing that it was going to be him, part of him did feel somehow guilty, and AJ wasn't helping.

"I know." Dean gulped.

"Should have been you." AJ mumbled, shaking her head. Deep down, she wasn't meaning to say that, she wasn't trying to hurt Dean, but seeing her husband in this state, she was just using her emotions and anger like she didn't care. Because without Phil, she didn't care.

"If it helps… I agree." Dean nodded as AJ turned to him, "They're not gonna let you stay here. You need to go home."

"We were supposed to go home together." AJ shook her head, "With the girls." She dried her tears, "He promised." She gasped as Dean ran his hand through his hair.

"I know." Dean sighed, "He'll… he'll still come home." He nodded as AJ turned to him.

"The only reason he is still with us right now is because a machine is helping him." AJ gritted her teeth as Dean looked at her.

"April, he's not dead." Dean reminded her, "Maybe he should be, but he's not. He's here. He's still there with us." He nodded, looking over at Punk, "You just gotta have hope. There's no better place for him right now but you can't stay here all night. You gotta get home, see the girls-"

"And tell them what?" AJ asked, "Daddy might come home, he might not." She said. The doctors weren't exactly positive about Punk. They were more so in shock that his heart was even still beating. As a nurse herself, she knew the impact of his injuries, she knew it wasn't looking good, and she really just couldn't face preparing to let him go, not ever, and she wasn't about to let her children let him go either.

"You just gotta have hope." Dean nodded as AJ looked at Punk, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I can't lose him." She whispered, shaking her head as Dean looked across at her, sighing to himself and looking down.

"I can take you home." Dean told her as she closed her eyes and sighed to herself. She wasn't trying to be mean to him or anyone else. She was just having a hard time seeing her husband like this. Her best friend. Her partner in absolutely everything.

She stood up and leaned over, pressing a kiss on his head, brushing his hair back and cupping his cheek, "Please don't leave me." She whispered.

* * *

_6 hours before…_

"_You gotta get him to the fucking hospital." Dean nodded to Tony._

"_He's gone. He's gone to the hospital." Tony assured him, "Where is Jensen?"_

"_Someone needs to call April." Dean said._

"_She's already been called." Tony said, walking towards the church with Dean. It was chaos. There were cops all around the scene. Punk had just been taken to hospital in a very terrifying state. They had a deceased body at the scene, being the priest, and also Jensen who was still shot and down on the ground._

"_What do we do with him?" Dean asked, walking down the church where Jensen was struggling._

"_Take him in." Tony said, pulling a bandage from his back pocket, crouching down where Jensen was and grabbing his arm as the man yelled in pain, "Shut up!" Tony spat as Dean looked at the man with anger. _

"_Why'd you fucking shoot?" Dean asked, grabbing Jensen around the throat, "Huh? Why'd you fucking shoot him?" He spat as Jensen just smiled, only provoking Dean who punched him hard across the face._

"_Ok ok." Tony nodded, wrapping Jensen's arm tightly in a bandage. They weren't helping him for any other reason than wanting answers from him. He couldn't give answers if he was dead._

"_If anything happens to Phil, I swear." Dean ran his hand through his hair, looking down at Jensen who was just smiling._

_Dean kicked him on the face and jumped over him, beginning to relentlessly punch and beat on him._

"_Dean, ok… that's it." Tony pulled Dean off him, "He can't talk if he's dead." He said, grabbing Dean back who was extremely angry, "You go cool off and get yourself together, ok?" Tony pushed him as Dean ran his hand through his hair, "Why don't you go to the hospital? April will need someone."_

"_Y-Yeah." Dean nodded to himself, "Yeah, ok. You got this?" He asked._

"_I got this." Tony assured him as Dean nodded and ran off._

* * *

_He left the church and headed to the hospital, just in time where he saw AJ getting out of her car._

"_April." Dean ran after her as AJ turned around. She was frantic and out of breath, as if she was holding her breath every now and then from disbelief. _

"_What the hell happened, Dean?" AJ shook her head, "He… He was shot?" She said, losing her breath, threatening to burst into tears with so much fear and worry._

"_Y-Yeah… yeah, he was shot." Dean said, walking into the hospital with her, "We were in the church and… and the gun was at me and he just pushed me out of the way." He said as AJ rushed to the desk to get any sort of update on Punk._

_All they could tell her was that he was ins surgery, "Can I… Can I go wait up there?" AJ asked, "In ICU?"_

"_No, I'm afraid you're gonna have to stay here." The woman at the desk said, "We'll let you know any updates." She nodded as AJ ran her hands through her hair, throwing her jacet down on a waiting chair and pacing._

"_How bad was it? Where was he shot?" AJ asked, "The leg or… the arm? Something?" AJ looked at Dean._

"_It was… it was the chest." Dean nodded as AJ sat herself down on a seat to prevent herself from falling down, "He was… he was still kinda conscious when he was put in the ambulance."_

"_Kinda?" AJ looked up at him, "Why… Why would he jump into a bullet?" AJ shook her head. She was immediately trying to blame someone, trying to find something to hate on, something to question, because quite simply she was scared and really couldn't believe this was happening._

"_It was coming for me and… he just shoved me out of the way. He clipped Jensen on the way down-"_

"_Where is he now?" AJ asked._

"_Taken into the station." Dean nodded, "So… you don't have to be in the safe house. Where-Where are the girls?"_

"_I had to drop them with Seth and Nadine. Seth wanted to come and… and Nadine was asking me questions and… I need to call them." She said, taking her shaking hands and trying to find her phone in her pockets, "I uh… I don't know where my phone is-"_

"_I'll call them." Dean sat down beside her, taking her hands and keeping them still as AJ looked at him, "I'll call them and let them know everything." He nodded to her as AJ ripped her hands from him._

"_You should have protected him. He did for you." AJ said. She wasn't meaning anything she was saying and Dean knew that. He'd saw many people react to these types of things. Didn't mean it didn't hurt of course. _

"_It happened really fast." Dean explained, "One minute he was shoving me out the way and then he was down." He nodded._

"_You're his partner. You shouldn't have let him push you-"_

"_I couldn't do anything." Dean said, "April, I'm sorry." He shook his head, "If I'm… who you want to blame right now then that's ok."_

"_I want you to go." AJ shook her head, "Please."_

"_Someone should be here with you if-"_

"_If what?" AJ turned her head to him, "Don't you dare say that." She said, "He's gonna be fine." She mumbled to herself as Dean looked at her._

"_Just let me stay until he's out of surgery." Dean said. He wouldn't have forgave himself if April was alone and got not so good news about Punk. He was staying._

_They sat in silence for almost an hour before someone came to speak to them, a doctor who worked in ICU that AJ knew, Tracy._

"_Is he ok? Is he out?" AJ asked._

"_He's out of surgery." Tracy nodded, "He's in ICU."_

"_Ok, I uh… can you take me to the room?" AJ asked, grabbing her coat._

"_We've had to put him into an induced coma." Tracy nodded as AJ looked at her, "His heart stopped in surgery and we… we had to shock him a few times." She said as AJ raised her eyebrows, "His sternum is shattered and he's got a collapsed lung. Fragments of the bullet were also affecting his right and left coronary arteries." She said as AJ looked straight through her, "He's also lost a lot of blood. He's had three transfusions." She nodded, "He's in a pretty dangerous place right now."_

"_I need to see him." AJ shook her head in shock._

"_I'll take you to his room." Tracy nodded._

"_Do you want me to come?" Dean asked her._

"_No." AJ shook her head, quickly following Tracy as Dean stood in the waiting area, running his hands over his face and sighing to himself. _


	24. Emotions

**Emotions**

* * *

"_I can't believe she did it." AJ shook her head, clasping her hands over her mouth and smiling with joy as Punk nodded, standing beside her._

"_You guys better be this proud of me." 21 year old Marty got out of the car tiredly, "I can't believe I had to come to this. I am… so hungover." She sighed, doubling over and taking some deep breaths as Punk shook his head and rolled his eyes._

"_You still stink of booze." Punk scoffed._

"_Then come give me a hug." Marty looked up, "Come here." She opened her arms, walking over to him and squeezing him tightly as AJ laughed._

"_You're not even cool." Punk rolled his eyes, letting him hug her._

"_I am the coolest person you know." Marty said, leaning back into the car and grabbing her sunglasses as AJ laughed._

"_It's not even sunny." AJ said._

"_Yeah I know but I still look a little high." Marty explained to them both, fixing her hair, "I study at this place to, remember."_

"_Sometimes I wonder how." Punk nodded as Marty punched his arm, "Don't or I'll arrest you." He warned._

"_I am not foreign to some handcuffs and you know that." Marty smiled to him, "Where is this bitch? I got things to do today." She huffed, leaning against the back of the car as they waited on Kaia. They'd just been to her graduation and were meeting her back at the main building. It was a busy day with lots of people around. A very proud day for Punk and AJ._

"_Did you remember your card for her?" AJ asked Marty._

"_I didn't get her no card." Marty scoffed, "She slept with my boyfriend last year."_

"_You were broken up with that boy." AJ reminded her, "For over a year."_

"_Just one son. It's all I wanted." Punk spoke to himself._

"_Uh… I don't care. I told her I will always be mad with her for that and she knows it." Marty shrugged, "She's a boyfriend stealer."_

"_She's your sister." AJ said, "And she's just graduated. It's a big thing."_

"_I'll make her a card when I get home." Marty shrugged._

"_Hey!" Twenty-three year old Kaia spotted them, rushing down the path to meet them with the most gigantic smile on her face._

"_Hey, there she is." Punk smiled proudly, catching her in a big hug as he squeezed her tightly, "I'm so proud of you." He kissed her head as Kaia smiled._

"_Thanks." Kaia said, turning to her mother._

"_Well done, baby." AJ smiled tearfully, hugging her eldest daughter tightly as Punk smiled watching, "We're so, so proud of you." She said as Kaia smiled._

"_I didn't know if you guys were gonna come back here or go back to the house." Kaia said, turning over and looking at Marty, "Hey, Marty." Kaia smiled._

"_Hello, sister." Marty nodded as Kaia walked over to her, "Well done, I suppose." She said as Kaia smiled._

"_Thank you. This will be you in two years." She nodded._

"_If I make it to graduation." Marty smirked, looking over at her parents deliberately who rolled their eyes. She was a tease and they all knew it._

"_You'll make it just fine." Kaia smiled, wrapping her arms around her little sister as Marty hugged back, "You do stink." She said as Marty nodded._

"_I know." Marty hummed as AJ smiled._

"_Oh, I love it when they're nice to each other." AJ smiled, turning to Punk and pausing when he no longer appeared to be there, "Phil?"_

"_Ok, mom… where are we going to celebrate?" Kaia asked, keeping her arm around her sister as Marty pushed her sunglasses up over her head._

"_Uh…" AJ looked around with confusion, "Where is… where's your father?" She asked them._

"_What?" Marty laughed._

"_Our father?" Kaia questioned, both of them looking at their mother with confusion._

"_Yes. Your dad." AJ said, "He was just here."_

"_Uh… mom, dad isn't here." Marty said, "We lost him a long time ago."_

"_What?" AJ shook her head with confusion, looking around her, feeling like she'd lost her limbs, her other half literally. _

* * *

"April." Nadine rubbed AJ's arm softly as AJ opened her eyes, sitting up quickly with worry on the couch which she'd fallen asleep on after returning back from the hospital.

"Phil." AJ said in a sleepy voice, looking up at Nadine.

"The hospital called." Nadine nodded as AJ sat up on the couch, alert, "He's still not woke up." She said as AJ nodded slowly.

"H-How are you here? You shouldn't… you should be resting." AJ looked at her with confusion.

"Seth brought me over. I wanted to see if you were ok. He took the girls out for some ice-cream."

"How long if I been sleeping?" AJ shook her head, looking over at the time and realising it was the next morning. She remembered Dean dropping her home around 1am, "I gotta… take a shower and get to the hospital." AJ nodded.

"Take your time." Nadine nodded.

"Nadine you should be resting." AJ sighed, standing up.

"I'd like to go see my son, actually." Nadine said as AJ looked across at her, "I'm ok."

"I was hoping I would wake up and… he'd be awake." AJ shook her head, "Or better, I'd wake up and this would be all a nightmare." She nodded, literally thinking back to the nightmare she had, which she had to live a life without her husband in it. It was unbearable to think about.

"He's still hanging on and that's… that's all the hope we can hold on to right now." Nadine nodded.

"It's not fair." AJ sighed to herself as Nadine nodded.

"I know, honey. I know it's not." Nadine said, wrapping her arms around AJ as AJ cried to her, "He's so strong, though. We know that." Nadine said, "He's not giving up." She said softly as AJ cried to her.

She just needed to cry to someone, for a long time, loudly. Because that was how she really felt right now. She felt like her world was crumbling away right before her very eyes.

* * *

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" AJ shook her head, sitting by Punk's bed with Nadine whilst Tracy had come into the room to check on things.

"With the severity of what happened to him… it might take a little longer." Tracy nodded, "In surgery, he started to lose oxygen in the brain, he was gone for seconds. That's a long time" She said, "He's in a stable condition right now. It might not feel like it to you but… he is." Tracy said as AJ sighed, holding onto Punk's hand tightly, "Talk to him." She smiled, "He'll hear you." She assured them both before leaving the room as AJ looked at Punk.

"I have no other words to say other than… please, please wake up." AJ shook her head. All she wanted was to hear his voice, to feel him reach out to her, to see him move.

"He'll take his time. He's always been a lazy one." Nadine nodded as AJ turned to her, "When I was pregnant with him I had to be induced because I was two weeks over my due date." She said, "He just didn't want to come out." She explained.

"Sounds like Marty." AJ remembered.

"And when he first went to school, he'd lock himself in his bedroom and he'd refuse to go. I had to pick the lock one time just to get in." Nadine smiled, "Of course I wasn't smiling then." She said as AJ nodded, "You heard the nurse, he's in the best position he could be in right now, especially after what he's been through."

"I just miss his voice." AJ shook her head as Nadine nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Nadine said as AJ looked at Punk, "I spoke to Dean." She said as AJ nodded, "Said that… you were mad with him." She said as AJ turned to her, "I know you want to blame someone, I do too, but sweetheart, Dean is the last person you go for in this instance." She nodded, "That's his best friend." She said as AJ sighed and nodded.

"I know." AJ shook her head, "I know… I was just… he was the only one there and when he said Phil jumped in front of the bullet I just… I was trying to make up scenarios in my head where… he didn't, and he was still somehow ok but… that was just me being in shock." AJ said, "I wasn't trying to hurt Dean."

"Well I think he's hurt." Nadine nodded, "And he also feels guilty and he shouldn't. This wasn't his fault. This was that horrible, evil man who did this. Who started all of this." She said as AJ nodded slowly.

"Yeah… yeah, it was." AJ realised, "I uh… I'll drop you off and I'll stop by the station to see Dean." AJ nodded.

"Ok." Nadine nodded, "Seth said he'd keep the girls at his place for now, if you're gonna be back and forth here."

"Yeah, that'd help me out a lot." AJ nodded, "I don't even know what to tell the girls." She shook her head.

"Just… daddy's not very well right now. That's all you have to say." Nadine said.

"I don't want them to be upset or worry." AJ shook her head.

"They won't. That's our job unfortunately." Nadine said as AJ nodded, "How long should it take for him to wake up? You're the nurse here." She smiled.

"A few days. It… It depends on how severe his injuries are." AJ said, "His sternum is shattered… he's gonna be in so much pain." AJ shook her head.

"They'll give him good meds." Nadine nodded, "And he has his own nurse to take care of him when he gets home." She said as AJ looked at her, "Which he will. He will get home." Nadine nodded. She knew AJ needed that sort of confidence right now, otherwise she would have lost herself in all her doubts and worries.

* * *

They stayed at the hospital for a while, talking, hoping mostly, until finally they left. AJ dropped Nadine off at home where she then set her sights on heading to the station. The closer she got to it, the more and more her blood sizzled.

She gripped the steering wheel tightly as she pulled up outside the station, undoing her belt and getting out, slamming the door shut and walking on into the station. Everyone knew who she was, and they seemed to all look the opposite direction when she walked in, as if they didn't know what to say to her, but she didn't really care, she knew where she was going.

"Hey, is that Brooks' misses?" Someone tapped Dean who looked up from standing at the copier, watching AJ storming through the station, not looking anywhere but the steps directly in front of her.

"Shit… yeah." Dean realised who and what she was looking for.

AJ continued walking down the station and headed for the interrogation rooms. She tried the first one which no one appeared to be in. She then opened up the second one and paused when she saw Tony sitting across from Jensen who was in handcuffs.

She just let go of everything. All her pain, her worrying, her sadness and suffering,.. it was because of this man.

"April." Tony shook his head, watching in disbelief as AJ ran into the room, toppling over Jensen on his chair where she immediately began punching him, beating on him with the angriest of fists, even so much as busting him open.

"You did this!" AJ screamed through her tears, choking him and digging her nails into him.

"April, that's enough!" Tony yelled, trying to grab her around the waist to pull her off, only to receive an elbow in the crotch as he groaned and doubled over in pain.

"This is your fault, you bastard!" AJ screamed as people began to gather out at the door, "You did this." She cried hysterically as Dean rushed into the room.

"April, shit…" Dean saw all of the blood, "No, come on." Dean shook his head, pulling her up from Jensen who'd really taken a good beating from her, "Come on, don't do this." He begged her, pulling her away as AJ cried loudly, getting dragged out of the room kicking and screaming.


	25. New At This

**New At This**

* * *

"_I just don't see why we have to go to this." Punk shook his head, walking into a building with AJ who was seven months pregnant with Kaia, "You give birth, you hold my hand, the end."_

"_You're not the one giving birth, therefore… no opinion." She shrugged as Punk nodded to himself, "I wanna make sure I know how to do the breathing stuff." She said._

"_You think you're gonna forget how to breathe?" Punk shook his head._

"_In case you aren't familiar… this is gonna hurt a little." AJ nodded to him, "And you need to know how to help me."_

"_I'll just wing it." Punk said._

"_Wow, you… you're really putting my mind at ease here." AJ smiled sarcastically as Punk nodded._

"_You should know I'm very good at winging things." Punk nodded, "How'd you even find out about this?"_

"_The hospital refers you. Janus, my doctor, she signed me up for it, said it's really useful." She nodded, walking down the corridor and into the door where they had been directed to, seeing other pregnant women standing around, some with partners, some with mom's or sisters._

"_It's like a whole pregnant meeting here." Punk looked around, "Is it weird that I'm a little scared?" He whispered to AJ who elbowed him in the stomach._

"_No shenanigans." She warned him as he massaged his stomach._

"_You must be April?" A woman walked over to them straight away, "And Phil?"_

"_Yeah." AJ smiled._

"_I'm Linzie." Linzie nodded, "We didn't know if you were coming or not."_

"_Oh, are we late?" AJ shook her head, turning to Punk._

"_No, I thought…" Punk paused, looking at his phone, "Yeah, half an hour." Punk nodded._

"_Oh, I'm so sorry." AJ turned back to Linzie._

"_No, that's fine. We can begin now." She nodded as Punk looked around, "Everyone can just take a seat on the floor." Linzie instructed._

"_The floor?" AJ whispered to Punk, walking further into the room, "Not even a cushion or something?" She said._

"_I know, I'll never get back up." Punk said._

"_You won't get back up?" AJ raised a brow, "Trying having a bowling ball attached to you everywhere you go." She said as Punk nodded._

"_Birthing partners can sit behind." Linzie instructed._

"_I hate you for making me do this." Punk groaned, taking a seat on the floor, helping AJ down as she sat between his legs, resting against his back._

"_Well you gotta be prepared." AJ hummed._

"_Yeah, maybe. But you wanna know who isn't gonna be there when you're giving birth? All these fuckers." Punk whispered as AJ chuckled, "That woman over there, two o'clock, is wearing a skirt." Punk told her as AJ discreetly looked over._

"_Oh, man." AJ shook her head, "And of course we had to sit directly in front of her." She whispered back to him._

"_Ok, let's just go around the room and introduce ourselves first, introduce the babies." Linzie smiled as Punk raised a brow, "April, let's start with you." Linzie nodded as AJ sat up a little._

"_Uh… well I'm April, this is my husband Phil." She pointed behind her, "We uh… we don't know what our baby is yet." She said._

"_How do you communicate with it?" The woman beside asked them with confusion as Punk and AJ turned to her._

"_Uh… just… like normal." AJ shrugged, "Hi, how are you? Stop making me pee. Stop making me horny all the time." AJ laughed, looking around the room where no one else was laughing, "Tough crowd." AJ whispered as Punk chuckled to himself behind her._

"_So you call your baby… it?" The woman asked them._

"_Yeah." AJ nodded, "We-We want it to be a surprise when it comes." AJ said._

"_I couldn't not know." The woman laughed beside them._

"_Well we're all different." Punk butted in._

_Everyone proceeded to introduce themselves, where AJ realised they really were the only parents who didn't know their babies gender, but they didn't care. They had their reasons and that was personal to them. _

_Linzie went through some different topics with them. The birth, post-birth, all that fun interesting stuff… but Punk and AJ were mostly just joking around whilst everyone else were treated it really seriously._

"_How we doing over here? Linzie smiled, walking over to Punk and AJ, "Practising our breathing?"_

"_Yeah but… is it necessary that he does it too?" AJ pointed to Punk, "I feel like that's the last thing I need if I'm giving birth… him breathing in my ear." AJ said._

"_Some women find it helpful." Linzie nodded, "But it's entirely up to you. Are you having a hospital delivery?"_

"_No, we're doing it outside." Punk nodded as Linzie looked at him with confusion, feeling AJ nudge him._

"_Yeah, in the hospital." AJ smiled pleasantly._

"_Oh, really?" The woman beside interrupted as Punk and AJ turned around, "My first one I did in the hospital and it was a disaster. Second one I did a water birth and this is now my fifth. I swear by it." She said as AJ raised her eyebrows._

"_Well I.. I work at the hospital so I… I know most people there." AJ smiled, "But… a water birth, does sound… interesting." AJ said._

"_It does?" Punk questioned._

"_Oh, it's so much more relaxing. All around a better atmosphere." She nodded, "And you don't even feel the placenta coming away either." She smiled cheerfully as AJ and Punk looked at her._

"_That's… nice." AJ nodded, "Sounds lovely."_

"_It is. Try it. At least once." She told them._

"_At least once?" Punk whispered to AJ, "We are not doing this five times." He made clear._

"_You do not have to tell me twice." AJ assured him._

"_So this is your first?" The woman turned back around to chat as Punk sighed._

"_Please stop talking to us." He whispered so she didn't hear._

"_Yeah, it's our first." AJ smiled._

"_Oh, you must be so nervous." She said._

"_Wait… isn't this class for first time parents?" Punk shook his head, "If you've done this four times I mean… you don't need this surely." He said, in the nicest way possible._

"_Well new things are always changing. And my body isn't the same as it used to be, you know what I'm saying?" She nodded to Punk who just smiled nervously. He wasn't quite sure how to handle this woman's conversations, "How do you think your cervix will be?" She asked AJ who looked at her._

"_Jesus Christ." Punk whispered, leaning his head on AJ's shoulder and looking the other way. He was all for helping AJ and being there for her through this experience, even when it came to things that he really wasn't all that knowledgeable about, but this was a little bit strange._

"_Uh… I… I think it'll be fine, I guess." AJ nodded nervously._

"_Well I'm just asking because you're… well you're very skinny and small. I mean that in a polite way of course. You might have some issues-"_

"_I don't think that makes a difference." AJ laughed. She knew that much._

"_Are you a midwife?" The woman asked, whose name they both remembered was Helen._

"_Oh, no. I'm a paediatrician." AJ said. _

"_Oh, so you're good with kids anyway?" Helen smiled._

"_Well, I guess." AJ shrugged, "I guess it'll be different because it's my own." AJ nodded._

"_Oh, definitely." Helen nodded, "Were you trying to conceive?" She asked with a smile as Punk turned around. He knew she was just trying to be friendly, and was just someone who liked to overshare, but some things were just too much._

"_Not really your business." Punk nodded to her as politely as he could._

"_Are you ready for this, dad?" Helen smiled, "You don't say much."_

"_Well I'm just taking it all in." Punk assured her._

"_Are you gonna look?" Helen asked._

"_At what?" Punk asked, looking around the room._

"_At April giving birth." Helen nodded._

"_Well I'm not gonna have my back to her the full time." He said as AJ chuckled to herself, leaning back against him as she looked around at all the other mom's._

"_I mean at the actual birth. You know… head crowning, all that interesting stuff." She said as Punk looked across at her. Never had he met someone so care free._

"_Uh… I… I don't know yet." Punk shrugged._

"_Oh, well you should. It's a beautiful thing." Helen smiled as Punk nodded slowly._

"_Well I'll decide when the time comes." Punk nodded._

"_What is it you do for a living?" Helen asked._

"_I'm a cop." Punk nodded._

"_Oh, really? A children's nurse and a cop? That's a safe and healthy baby." Helen smiled as AJ nodded with a smile._

"_Ok, time for a tape." Linzie announced._

"_Thank God." Punk whispered to AJ, "I need her to stop talking to us." He said as AJ patted his leg and smiled._

"_Does anyone get faint at blood?" Linzie wondered as Punk looked on nervously._

* * *

"_Are you ok?" AJ asked, sitting outside the building with Punk where the lamas class had just ended. She noticed her husband go quiet and a funny shade of white after watching the very graphic but very real video of a birth._

"_Mhm." Punk nodded to her, "Mhm, yeah… fine." Punk gulped as AJ looked at him with a small smile._

"_Uh… just a little reminder that, you don't have to do that." She said._

"_Mhm… and I… I don't mean to be a jerk but I'm so glad." Punk nodded to her as she smiled a little, "That looked… not a lot of fun." He shook his head as AJ nodded._

"_But did you see how happy the mom was when she held her baby?" AJ asked him, "And the dad was crying… will you cry?"_

"_I think I was crying in there… not at how beautiful it was, though… just how terrified I am." Punk said._

"_Hey, we're gonna be fine. Women do this every day. And it was over so quickly. I'll… I'll be fine." AJ nodded to herself as Punk looked at her._

"_That's it… for the next few weeks you're getting massages and… and you're getting all the sex and the food you want." He nodded as AJ smiled._

"_I'm sure you'll have no problem fulfilling that." AJ nodded, "I'm just glad we've escaped chatty Helen."_

"_Never have I known someone to be so interested in your cervix before." Punk said as AJ nodded._

"_Right?" AJ laughed, "She was starting to give me a headache." She nodded._

"_Did she convince you to have a water birth?" Punk questioned._

"_Are you kidding?" AJ shook her head, "No way." She said, "Maybe our fifth baby I will." She teased as Punk looked up at her with terrified eyes, "Kidding." She assured him._

"_Do not… do not do that to me." Punk stood up as AJ smiled._

"_It's fun." AJ smiled, "Ok, take me for some food somewhere then." She took his hand in hers._

"_Anywhere you want." Punk smiled._

* * *

**A/N: Just a little breather chapter in between all the drama! Thanks for reading.**


	26. A Conversation

**A Conversation**

* * *

"What the hell are you doing coming in here all hot like that?" Dean asked, taking AJ outside the police station where she was still eager to get back inside.

"Let me back in." AJ demanded, trying to get by him as he kept his arm out.

"No, AJ." Dean said firmly, "You're gonna get your ass arrested-"

"Arrested?" AJ shook her head, "Are you kidding?"

"No. I'm not. You don't get perks because you're married to a cop." Dean said, "You need to calm down. You shouldn't even be here." He shook his head as AJ looked at him, pushing his arm away and stepping back, "Are you hurt?" He asked her.

"No, I'm fine." AJ shook her head, turning away from him and folding her arms

"Are you hurt?" Dean repeated as AJ looked at her cut up knuckles which were bleeding.

"I just need a towel or something." AJ told him.

"Go sit on that wall over there. I'll go get… a towel and a coffee I think." Dean said as AJ nodded to him and walked over to the small wall over by the corner of the station building. It was where most guys came out to smoke during their breaks.

AJ wandered over to it and took a seat on the brick wall, sighing to herself as she felt her heart still beating rapidly, trying to take deep breaths to slow it down. She couldn't help it. Seeing the man who had put her husband in a coma, who had been stalking her and her children and was planning just as much heinous things as his son was… she just snapped.

"Here." Dean eventually emerged outside with a towel and a coffee, sitting down on the wall beside AJ, handing her the towel as she cleaned her knuckles off, sitting her coffee beside her, "You ok?" Dean asked.

"What do you think?" AJ asked him, sitting the towel over and running her hand through her hair, "He did this. This was all him." AJ turned to him, "My husband… could lose his life." AJ gulped, really taking in the severity of what was going on, "And it's all because of him. Please… please don't make it out like I'm overreacting." She said, taking the coffee and drinking it.

"I'm not. I've been wanting to do the exact same thing. Tony wouldn't let me deal with it because I… I kept snapping." Dean said, "I might not be married to him or have kids with him but… Phil is my best friend." He nodded, "He's been there for me when… literally no one else was." He said as AJ looked at him, "I know this sucks." He nodded to her.

"Yeah, it does." AJ shook her head as Dean took out a cigarette and lit up.

"Where are the girls?" Dean asked her.

"With Seth. They're staying at his and Becky's place." AJ nodded, "They're gonna be wondering where Phil is." She said, "This can't be it." She sighed, looking out onto the dark street, "He doesn't deserve this."

"I know he doesn't." Dean nodded, "He's a tough son of a bitch." He reminded her.

"You heard his injuries." AJ said, "I'm a nurse. I know stuff like that is… fatal." AJ shook her head, "He shouldn't have even made it to the coma-"

"Well he did. And he's still here. We've got that to hold onto." Dean nodded, "And yeah that… that piece of shit in there is to blame for all of this but… he's gone now. Him being arrested is… it's his death sentence. We got him." Dean nodded, "Our attention goes to Phil now."

"I…. I was actually coming here to apologise to you." AJ nodded as he looked at her, "Me saying this was your fault and… it should have been you… that wasn't fair. This wasn't your fault. I just wanted to be mad at someone and you were there." AJ said as Dean nodded.

"I understand." Dean said, "I knew that anyway."

"I woke up this morning and… and I thought he'd be awake." AJ said, "I really did."

"It might take a few days. He's in the best place right now." Dean reminded her as AJ nodded.

"I just… I can't imagine life without him." AJ said, "Life with the girls. Growing old and… watching them grow up. I can't do that without him." AJ looked at him worriedly, "I can't be a mom without him."

"You don't have to think about any of that, April." Dean shook his head. He could understand why she was thinking so negatively. Things weren't look good in terms of Punk's progress. He hadn't really made any in all honesty. But that didn't mean he was never going to get better. He had to make her believe he would, "I know he's never been hurt to this extent before but… he has been hurt before and… and he's a trooper. He powers through like no other person I know. I mean… remember when he… he was unconscious, shot, almost suffering from hypothermia and still made it to Kaia's birth and… made a recovery so good that no one even noticed he was banged up?" Dean asked her as AJ smiled and nodded.

"He didn't even complain once. He was… he was so involved with Kaia." AJ smiled to herself.

"It's Phil. He gets knocked down and… gets right back up." Dean said as AJ nodded, "And you have to believe that."

"I do." AJ nodded, "But I can't ignore how… critical he is right now." AJ said.

"I know. I know it's scary. I'm scared." Dean nodded to her, "I don't have siblings but he's… he's the closest thing I have to a brother. He is my brother. I don't believe in… all that, you gotta be blood to be family bullshit."

"I don't either. You're speaking to the right person." AJ smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Dean nodded.

"I uh… I never knew about your mom." AJ said.

"My mom?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah… how she died." AJ nodded, "I never knew."

"Oh, well… it's not something I'm always going on about. It happened. Life… carried on." Dean nodded.

"I might not qualify to relate to you fully but… my mom tried to kill herself once." AJ nodded, "And so did I." She said as Dean turned to him.

"You?" Dean shook his head.

"Yeah." AJ nodded.

"W-Wait… I uh… I didn't know you did… does Phil know?"

"He's the only one who knows." AJ nodded, "Husband and wife thing I guess." She shrugged as Dean nodded slowly.

"When?" Dean shook his head.

"Just before I was diagnosed." AJ said, "I really didn't talk to anyone about my problems. Phil found me." She nodded, "Tried to swallow a whole tub of pills. And at that moment I… I really wanted to just… disappear." She said as Dean nodded.

"Phil found you?" Dean shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "He'd just got home from the academy for Christmas. I didn't know he was coming. I thought I had the house to myself. Seth was at work. Nadine was at work. I was supposed to be at home studying." She said.

"_Ma?" Punk walked into the house with all of his bags, dumping them at the door. He was so glad to be home for Christmas after an intense year at the academy, getting closer and closer to his goal of becoming a cop._

"_Ma, you home?" Punk called through the house, walking into the living room where he saw books scattered all over the place, as well as some ripped up papers. It didn't look like a typically normal scene. He knew April was always pretty tidy when she was studying._

_He was glad to be back home to see his family, even April. It was hard being away for so long, staying at the academy and training, but he was learning every day and he loved it._

_He headed upstairs with his bags, carrying them through to his bedroom and dumping them down on the bed. He began unpacking his things, grabbing his bathroom kept items and walking across the hall, opening up the bathroom door when he saw arms and legs, dropping his things and bursting through the door._

"_April." Punk shook his head, "April, what happened?" He crouched down, pulling her up as he watched her eyes rolling back, "Hey, did you hit your head?" He shook his head, "Huh?" He looked around, pausing when he saw the empty tub of pills on the floor, shaking his head with confusion, "N-No… no, what…" He pulled her up right away and pulled her over to the toilet, "No, you're not doing that." Punk shook his head in disbelief, holding her up and putting his fingers down her throat, making her throw up…_

"He tried to get me to throw them up but… he was worried I didn't get them all so he took me to the hospital." AJ nodded, "They sectioned me and that's when I was diagnosed. I asked him if he could just… not tell anyone that I… I tried to kill myself." AJ shook her head, "I didn't want Seth to know that or Nadine. I knew they'd feel guilty or something so… he promised he wouldn't tell anyone and he didn't." She said.

"I'm so sorry." Dean frowned.

"Don't be." AJ shook her head, "It's made me who I am." She nodded, "I might not have been successful at it, I guess… that sounds sort of wrong. It's not something anyone should be successful at." AJ shook her head, "But… when I was in that low moment, I wasn't mad at anyone, I wasn't doing it to get away from anyone… if that's what you think your mom was doing… it's not." AJ assured him, "It's… it's mental illness. It's no one but your brain and you." AJ shrugged, "That's what it comes down to."

"Yeah, I always kinda think… wasn't I enough to keep her here?" Dean shrugged.

"That's not how it works." AJ said, "I'm sure your mom loved you, but don't ever think that what she did was a cop out or… what she did, you weren't enough to stop." She said, "Your brain can be your worst enemy. Especially someone who is living with mental illness." She nodded.

"So no one knows about you?" Dean asked her.

"Just Phil. And you now." AJ smiled, "I'm not… I'm not ashamed or annoyed with myself. I just know that my best friend would have blamed himself and I didn't want that on his mind." AJ shook her head, "I was in the hospital for a few weeks. Me and Phil agreed that we would tell Nadine and Seth that I just had a breakdown and they sectioned me." AJ nodded.

"But Phil was there." Dean said.

"Yeah, he was there." AJ nodded to herself, "Always there." She smiled, "We actually became pretty distant after that. It was like… we hated each other growing up and then… that happened and he… he barely spoke to me after. I don't really think he knew what to say to me." She nodded, "And now he's… he's like the best therapist I've ever had. With the best ass." She smiled as Dean laughed a little.

"You two are good." Dean nodded, "If I ever grow up and have a relationship." He said as AJ laughed a little, "I want it to be like you guys." He nodded to her as AJ smiled.

"We're not perfect." AJ said, "But… we care." AJ nodded to him.

"I know my mom wasn't in a good place." Dean nodded, "I was just devastated. I got on with her, you know." He said as AJ smiled and nodded.

"Then remember those moments and memories you have with her." AJ nodded to him as he smiled.

"You're a brave woman." Dean nodded.

"Nah. My back is just always up against the wall." AJ shrugged, "Fight or flight." She nodded, "I'd really appreciate it if… you didn't tell anyone about me-"

"Oh, of course not." Dean shook his head, "No, that's never coming out of my mouth. I promise." He nodded to her as she smiled.

"Thank you." AJ nodded, "And… I really am sorry for taking out everything on you. I'm just really scared." She admitted truthfully as Dean nodded.

"I am too." Dean nodded, "I don't wanna lose my best friend."

"I don't wanna lose my husband." AJ shook her head, tears welling in her eyes as Dean wrapped his arm around her, giving her a tight squeeze as AJ sighed. She really didn't know what to do. She couldn't describe the worry and the fear she felt at this moment.


	27. Patience

**Patience**

* * *

"I don't know what to do about the girls." AJ shook her head, sitting in Punk's hospital room with Seth, "Do I bring them here to see him? They-They keep asking me why can't they see him." AJ sighed as Seth nodded.

"I don't think this is something you'd want them to see." Seth said honestly as AJ looked over at Punk. He was so pale, so lifeless looking, "They're not gonna understand why he's… why he's sleeping like that and not waking up." He said as AJ nodded.

"I know." AJ sighed, "I know, I just… I hate how… how much they miss him, and I can't do anything about it." AJ nodded, "It's been five days and he's… he's not even moved. Some people can move their hands or… or their eyes twitch but he's… he's just not making any movement." AJ said worriedly as Seth looked over at his brother.

"He will." Seth nodded, "Give him time." He said as AJ nodded.

"And I feel awful for… dumping the girls with your mom who is barely even fit to look after them right now." AJ sighed to herself.

"Hey, you need all the help you can get. The girls aren't hard work. My mom is doing ok." Seth said as AJ nodded.

"I just want to see his eyes open, you know?" AJ nodded to him, "Just to know he's here, and that it's possible that… that he's gonna be ok." AJ said, "Because right now it's… it's just waiting."

"Yeah, I know." Seth said, "But he's stable, things are going as well as they should be right now, which seems ridiculous to say but it's true." He said as AJ nodded.

"Dean won't let me go near the station." AJ said.

"Yeah, well I think that's for the best, don't you?" Seth asked her.

"I want him dead." AJ shook her head, "I've never… I've never had this much hate in my body for someone before. I did for Norman but… but this is just different. This is my life and my family." AJ said.

"Death is too good for him." Seth nodded.

"No, I just… I want him gone." AJ said coldly.

"And he will be." Seth said, "That man isn't getting out of prison. Ever." Seth nodded, "He'll be tossed in with the lowest of the low." He nodded, "Phil did promise he would get him." He nodded.

"This wasn't part of the deal, though." AJ sighed, taking Punk's hand in hers as Seth watched and sighed, running his hand through his hair.

It had been a miserable few days. Days of not knowing, of wondering what if with worry. He'd never saw the older brother he looked up to this weak and hurt before, and it scared him.

AJ held his hand in hers, looking down at his colourful hand when she felt one of his fingers tighten around one of hers.

"S-Seth." AJ raised her eyebrows as Seth looked up, "He… He moved a little." AJ turned to Seth, keeping her hand in Punk's, watching as he moved another finger, "Look." AJ nodded as Seth looked over with raised brows, taking a deep breath of relief. Something so small meant so much.

"He probably wants us to shut up." Seth laughed as AJ looked over at Punk with a smile, standing up and leaning over.

"It's ok, baby. We're here." AJ nodded, brushing his hair out of his face. He was still very much unconscious but the smallest of signs that he was somehow still listening to them was everything to her, "You're gonna be ok." She whispered, cupping his cheek softly, "I'm right here." She whispered, pressing a kiss on his lips, just wishing that soon she could feel him kiss back again.

* * *

"What do you guys want for dinner?" AJ asked, walking into the kitchen where the girls were sitting at the table.

"To see daddy." Kaia said.

"For dinner?" AJ asked her.

"Yes." Kaia said, "Or else I won't eat." She warned her mother seriously as AJ sighed to herself. If there was anyone struggling just as much as her, it was her children.

"Ok, listen to mommy." AJ sighed, crouching down at the table between them as they looked at her, "Daddy is sick right now. So he… he can't be around us. He's… sleeping a lot and he's too sick to see us." AJ nodded to them as Marty frowned.

"If he's sick I should make him better." Marty said with confusion.

"It's not as easy as that, baby." AJ said, "Mommy misses him so much too, just like you. But we just have to have patience." She nodded to them, "And we can't not eat dinner because of it." She turned to Kaia who huffed, folding her arms.

"But I miss him." Kaia frowned sadly, getting upset as AJ watched.

"Hey, don't do that." AJ sighed, "Come here, baby." AJ nodded as Kaia jumped from the chair, crying sadly and falling into AJ's arms as AJ hugged her tightly, "He'll be home soon." She whispered, cupping the back of Kaia's head softly, looking over at Marty who sat resting her chin on her hands on the table.

She knew exactly how they both felt. The house felt quiet and dull without Punk. She could feel her babies sadness from his absence and it broke her heart.

"Things are going to be ok." AJ nodded, "He's gonna be back soon." She said, leaning back and cupping Kaia's cheeks, wiping her tears as she held onto her owl, "And how exciting is it gonna be when we see him again?" She smiled to them, "Huh?" She said as Kaia smiled.

"He needs to get better soon." Marty huffed as AJ nodded.

"He will." AJ nodded positively. If anything, they were the ones who gave her the most strength to be positive, "Why don't you two go into the living room? We can just order pizza." She nodded.

"Ok." Marty nodded, jumping off the chair, "Come on, Kaia." She took her sister's hand, sensing she needed cheered up as AJ smiled, watching them run away to the living room as she placed her hand on her chest.

* * *

"_Look who I found awake." Punk hummed, walking into he and AJ's bedroom with one year old Kaia perched on his hip, resting her head on his shoulder whilst holding onto her owl._

"_Oh, look." AJ smiled, "It's the birthday burrito." AJ said as Punk smiled._

"_Yeah." Punk cheered, walking around the bed, sitting Kaia down as she immediately crawled her way over to AJ, "And she doesn't even know it's her birthday."_

"_Well she's one." AJ laughed, lifting Kaia up, blowing on her little tummy as the one year old giggled, "Huh… you're just one. You're a little one." AJ said in a funny voice, kissing Kaia's nose as the one year old sat on her mother's lap._

"_One and you still aren't talking to us." Punk said._

"_She could just be a late talker. It's common." AJ said, "She'll speak when she wants to. Won't you, baba?" She smiled as Kaia sat on her lap, playing with her owl which had become her best friend over the year._

"_Well she got the hang of walking pretty quickly." Punk said, sitting against the headboard beside AJ._

"_That's because she loves running away from us." AJ said as Punk laughed and nodded._

"_Burrito on the run." Punk nodded._

"_Mhm." AJ said, "A little escapee." She said, stroking Kaia's cheek softly as the one-year-old sat quietly. She was such a good baby. The past year had been so beautiful, raising their daughter together and watching her grow, creating special memories as a family, learning as they went along._

"_So what's on today's agenda?" Punk asked._

"_Well it's gotta be a birthday party for the birthday girl." AJ nodded, "Lots of cake, lots of pizza, lots of presents." AJ smiled._

"_That sounds pretty good." Punk nodded to her as AJ smiled, feeling Kaia leave her lap, crawling over to Punk, climbing onto him and giving him the owl she loved so much, "Hey, thanks." Punk nodded to her, "But he's yours." He passed it back to her._

_Kaia shook her head and pushed the owl to him as AJ smiled. It was so fun getting to watch this little person they had made, watching her grow into her own little personality. _

"_Oh, can I have him for the day then?" Punk asked her, "Well thanks. I'll keep him safe, don't worry." He promised her as AJ smiled, "So what about these presents, huh?" He asked, picking her up under the arms as Kaia smiled, "I suppose you wanna go tear them open?" _

"_She'll be more interested in the wrapping paper." AJ figured._

"_And that's ok." Punk nodded, "Hey, this is how old you are." Punk said, pointing one finger at Kaia who looked at him, "Just one." He nodded, "You were still in mommy's tummy a year ago… you were a late night baby. So actually… you aren't one yet." He said as AJ smiled. She really could have watched him to Kaia all day._

"_And daddy almost missed it all." AJ added as Punk nodded._

"_Daddy was taking down psychopaths in frozen lakes." Punk nodded._

"_Surprise surprise." AJ nodded as Punk smiled, feeling Kaia take the owl from him again, hugging him tightly, "Oh, is that your baby?" AJ asked her as Kaia hugged the owl tightly, "Is the baby sleeping?" She asked as Kaia began biting the owl's ear._

"_Oh, we're biting the baby now." Punk nodded as AJ chuckled, "Don't bite your baby." Punk tutted as AJ smiled, "Don't you wanna go see your presents?" He asked her as Kaia reached her hands out to him, "Yeah, I thought so." He nodded, picking her up and getting out of bed._

"_Did we even wish her happy birthday?" AJ asked, getting out of the bed as Punk walked around to her._

"_Yeah, in some way." Punk shrugged._

"_Well happy birthday my little burrito." AJ said, leaning up and kissing Kaia's cheek as Punk leaned in and kissed her other cheek, causing the one year old to giggle._

"_Happy birthday, sweetheart." Punk smiled, both of them hugging and kissing her._

* * *

AJ lay up on the couch later that night with a blanket, watching the TV without paying much attention. Marty was asleep curled into her whilst Kaia was fast asleep on the other couch. They'd had pizza and watched a few movies before both the girls crashed out.

She knew it wasn't helpful to sit and worry by remembering all the amazing memories she had with her husband, memories that she thought they would continue making. But it helped her think of his voice, and his eyes, the feeling of his arms wrapped around her.

She looked at the clock and realised it was more than late enough. The mind numbing night talk shows were diverting her mind, but she could only watch so much before feeling her eyes start to nip with tiredness.

She got up from the couch, slowly shifting Marty over and folding up the blanket they had been using.

She went to scoop Marty up, to take her up to bed first, when she heard a knock at their door. It was too late to be anyone they knew, and if it was Seth or Nadine, she knew they would have called first.

She walked out of the living room, holding her sweater around her tightly as she walked to the door, unlocking it and opening it up.

"Hi, sweetheart." Jack smiled as AJ gulped and looked across at him.


	28. More Stress

**More Stress**

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" AJ spat, closing the door over a little.

"Came to see my son, and my daughter-in-law… those beautiful grandchildren-"

"You know you are not welcomed here." AJ spat, "Or anywhere near this family." AJ warned. There couldn't have been a worse time for him to show up like this. Throughout everything that was going on, she had forgotten he even existed.

"Well here I am, April." Jack nodded, "Be a sweetheart and let me in." He said as AJ tried to shut the door quickly, but his foot immediately stepped into the door, stopping her from closing it fully, "Fine. I'll just let myself in." He nodded, pushing the door open as AJ stumbled back a little, watching as he walked into the house.

"I'll call the cops." AJ said, "You have no right doing this." She spat.

"Look at me." Jack told her as she looked across at him, "I'm not here to hurt you-"

"Then why are you here?" AJ hissed.

"I'm here to… to get to know you, to see my son and… try and move on from that bitter past we have." Jack said, "So let's just… close the door over." He walked over, closing the front door shut as AJ watched. She didn't feel safe around this man, and there was nothing scarier knowing that her husband wasn't even conscious to come to her aid.

"Please don't hurt me." AJ shook her head. She was scared of this man. He looked scary and she knew what he was capable of and what lack of emotions and sincerity he had.

"April." Jack laughed, "Baby come on, I'm not gonna hurt you. We're family-"

"You tried to kill your wife." AJ said in a high pitched voice, "And you hurt your son. Family means nothing to you. I mean nothing to you-"

"I'm a changed man and I want to show you that. I want to show all of you." Jack nodded as AJ looked across at him, "So where is my son?" He asked as AJ looked across at him, "What?"

"Phil isn't home right now." AJ said, she wasn't giving him the details.

"Where is he?" Jack asked.

"It's none of your damn business." AJ spat, "You shouldn't be here. It's late. I was… I was going to bed." She told him.

"And why isn't Phil here?" Jack asked.

"It's none of your business." AJ glared at him as Jack nodded to himself.

"Working late?" Jack smiled as AJ looked at him, "I used to tell my wife the same thing. But I was actually out sleeping with other women." He nodded as AJ looked at him. He disgusted her. Every rotten piece of him. Especially his arrogance, "I wouldn't be surprised. Once the kids come… relationship is practically over, right?"

"Just shut up." AJ spat, "You don't know a damn thing about me and Phil. You don't know a damn thing about Phil. He is not like you."

"Well maybe you're right." Jack nodded as AJ glared at him, "So I guess it's just me and you."

"What do you really want? Can't you see that I'm uncomfortable? That I don't want you here?" AJ shook her head.

"You just gotta chill out. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not gonna steal shit from you or trash your house. I got out of the cells last week and… and I thought about what you said to me, you know, before you slapped me."

"I remember telling you to stay away." AJ said.

"Yeah, and… I'll admit, that took balls." Jack said, "These are my sons, my ex-wife… don't you think I deserve a chance with them? I mean… little Seth doesn't even know me at all-"

"Little Seth isn't little." AJ reminded him, "He knows enough about you to never want to see you." She said, "Why are you insisting on being here when you know no one wants to see you. Not your sons, not your ex-wife… not me." AJ said, "Just do us all a favour-"

"Well I would but… I feel like I have something to prove. And I want to help Nadine through her cancer. I want to be there for her-"

"That won't make up for what you did to her, and even then… no one would trust you around her." AJ said.

"I'm not that same man, April." Jack nodded, "That man disappeared a long time ago. I spent all these years in prison and… and you know all I thought about? My family. My sons and my ex." He said, "If I didn't care then I wouldn't be thinking about them, I wouldn't come here."

"You just cause them pain. You're a reminder of a terrible time they went through. Do you really wanna bring that pain back to them? If you really cared you would listen and leave us alone." AJ spat, "We have enough going on right now."

"Don't you think everyone deserves a chance?" Jack questioned, turning around and heading for the living room.

"Don't." AJ warned as Jack walked on in, pausing when he saw Marty asleep on one couch and Kaia asleep on the other.

"So these are my grandbabies." Jack smiled to himself as AJ walked into the living room and walking in front of him, to make sure he didn't get any closer, "The oldest is Kaia. I know that." He said, looking over at Kaia, "But who is this little one?" He pointed over to Marty.

"Marty." AJ said. It wasn't like she could fight him out of the house. She was just trying to stay calm.

"Marty? What's that short for?" He asked with confusion as AJ looked at him.

"Martine." AJ said as Jack nodded.

"They take their looks from you." Jack noticed, looking between them both, "What ages are they?"

"Five and three." AJ folded her arms.

"Oh, you two were eager." Jack smirked, "Or are we making a common mistake?"

"Don't you call my children mistakes." AJ spat as Jack put his hands up, "You've saw them, are you happy now?" She hissed, "You need to leave."

"Well I'd like to get to know them." Jack nodded.

"Not gonna happen." AJ made clear, "You've really picked the wrong time to come here. I mean… there wasn't ever right time actually." She said, "I will go to the police and I'll get… whatever restraining order I need to, for you to stay away from not only me and my children, but also Nadine and your sons." AJ said, "Because no one wants you here." She said as Jack looked down at her, "Am I making myself clear?" She glared at him as Jack smiled.

"I like a woman who can stand up to me." Jack smiled as AJ looked at him, "Shame you're married-"

He barely got the last word out before AJ slapped him hard across the face, "I'm not in the mood for this shit." AJ spat, "Now get the hell out of my house." She said as Jack held his face and chuckled to himself.

"You're a fiery little thing, aren't you?" Jack nodded, "I can see why Phil likes you." He smiled.

"Get out." AJ spat. She wasn't accepting this in her own home. She wasn't being made to feel this scared and uncomfortable. She'd felt scared enough over the past month.

"Mommy." Marty woke up, lying on the couch and looking over at her mother and the strange man she didn't know.

"Hey, baby… why don't you go on upstairs, ok?" AJ nodded to her, "I'll be right there." She said as Marty got up from the couch and nodded, sleepily walking by them and heading for the stairs.

"She's cute." Jack nodded.

"Out." AJ narrowed her eyes at him.

"Ok ok." Jack put his hands up, strolling out of the living room and heading for the door, "Is it really so wrong for me to… try and be better?"

"There is no better with you." AJ spat, "We all know it." She said, "Just get the hell out of my house." She spat as Jack stared at her.

He stood looking at her for a few seconds before pushing a smirk out and backing up to the door.

"Goodnight, April." Jack whispered, opening up the door and walking out as AJ immediately slammed it shut behind him, locking the door and putting the latch on, leaning back against it and sighing to herself.

"Mommy." Kaia trailed out from the living room, "Is it time to wake up?" She asked, a little confused after waking up on the couch.

"No, baby… no, let's go to bed." AJ nodded, lifting Kaia up who draped her little head over her shoulder, "Let's go to bed." She sighed, walking up the stairs and into her bedroom where Marty had made her way into. She had been letting them sleep in her bed with them. She hated being so alone and needed their little arms wrapped around her.

"Who was the man?" Marty asked in a whisper, lying on Punk's side of the bed whilst AJ put Kaia down beside her.

"What man?" Kaia shook her head.

"In the room. In our house." Marty told her sister, both of them getting under the covers as AJ joined them.

"He's no one." AJ said as they looked at her.

"Mommy he can't be no one." Marty giggled.

"He is." AJ nodded, tucking Marty's hair behind her ear, "You won't see him again." She said as they nodded, too tired and unbothered to care anyway.

"Miss daddy." Marty frowned, sharing the pillow with Kaia who was already starting to fall back asleep, "Do you miss him?" She turned to AJ who nodded.

"Of course I do." AJ whispered as Marty huffed, patting the covers around her. She then reached over her sleeping sister and took the frame on Punk's side of the bed, a picture of him and AJ, "What are you doing?" AJ questioned.

"Giving him a hug." Marty whispered, hugging the frame as AJ smiled, "But I wish it was the real him." She made sure to say.

"Me too." AJ nodded, watching her as she kept the frame in her arms, closing her eyes as AJ stroked her cheek lovingly.

She couldn't handle the added on stress with Jack showing up. She hated the fear it brought, the unknown and the worry. All she wanted was for things to go back to normal.


	29. Without You

**Without You**

* * *

"Why the hell didn't you call?" Seth sighed, sitting on the step at the back door, turning to AJ beside him who had called him first thing in the morning to let him know about Jack showing up. Kaia was at school whilst Marty was playing with her jump rope and other outside toys, getting her mother and uncle to watch her every now and then.

"It was too late." AJ said, "I… I don't know what he even wants. That's my issue with all of this." She turned to him, "Because… he knows he can't get away with what he did back then. Plus he's on strict probation. And I don't believe for a second that he's being legit about… having changed-"

"Definitely not." Seth shook his head as AJ looked at him.

"Do you even remember him?" AJ questioned.

"Vaguely." Seth nodded, "Not as well as Phil does I guess." He said as AJ nodded.

"I just don't know what he could possibly want. Does he want to make us all uncomfortable? Is that it?" AJ questioned as Seth sighed to himself.

"He's really picked the wrong time to do this." Seth shook his head as AJ nodded.

"What do we do? It's… It's not even us I'm worried about. It's your mom. I'm afraid she'll believe him and… and then something bad happens to her. I mean she… she doesn't need this right now. She can't deal with this right now." AJ said as Seth nodded in agreement.

"Mom is still staying with me. He's not gonna get to her." Seth shook his head as AJ nodded, "I think we just gotta… not let him affect us. And if he does get in our way, I mean it's harassment, right? We can get a restraining order or something." Seth nodded, running his hand over his face tiredly.

"You ok?" AJ asked him.

"Not really sleeping." Seth nodded to her as AJ looked at him.

"Snap." AJ said, "Spent most of the night just watching the girls sleep." AJ nodded.

"I miss him." Seth admitted truthfully as AJ turned to him, "I grew up… hating him. He made my life miserable, but he… he turned into someone I really look up to. I don't know if that was because of you or what but-"

"I think he figured it out on his own." AJ nodded, "I had no part in that." She said as Seth nodded, "I don't think you grew up hating him. I think you just grew up… not close to him. You were both really different. He wasn't an understanding person. He wasn't exactly approachable." She said, "Truth is, I think he was just scared."

"Of what?" Seth asked.

"Being that… important person in someone's life." AJ nodded, "I also think what happened with him and his dad sort of… affected him." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, well I don't blame him for that." Seth said, "I just miss talking to him."

"Me too." AJ nodded, running her hand through her hair, "And the girls really miss him. Marty slept with a picture of him last night." She said as Seth smiled.

"Bless her heart." Seth smiled, looking over and watching Marty play around with her ball, "I don't know who is more like him."

"Oh, Kaia for sure." AJ nodded.

"You think?" Seth asked.

"Yeah." AJ said, "Always has to get the last word like him. Stubborn. Lazy. Fussy with food. All him." AJ nodded with a smile, "Marty's kinda like… a hippy version of him." She said as Seth laughed a little.

"A hippy version of Phil?" Seth laughed to himself, "I like it." He nodded as AJ smiled, "I still can't believe you have two kids sometimes." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"You never saw it coming, did you?" AJ smiled.

"Not in a million years." Seth said, thinking back, "Did you?"

"No, of course not." AJ said, "But… I did think he was a lot cuter than I let onto you. I knew it would make you mad." She said, "And I don't know, I liked that he… was mean to me."

"Weird kink." Seth said as AJ shoved him.

"Not like that." AJ said, "I don't know how to describe it." She said, "And he… he saved my life." AJ shrugged, "He always tells me not to say that, he thinks I would have got myself away from Norman without him but… I don't know." AJ said, "I'm not ashamed to say that he was there to rescue me. It's all a relationship really is, right? Being there for someone when they need you the most." She nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much." Seth nodded, "Maybe not in typical serial killer attacking you fashion but… yeah, pretty much." He said as AJ smiled.

"We do things a little differently around here." AJ shrugged as Seth nodded, "What are we gonna do about your dad? I don't… I don't trust that he's out now." She admitted.

"We can't let him affect us. He has nothing over us." Seth said, "And no one is buying the changed man card. He'll sense that we just don't give a fuck and he'll disappear." Seth hoped.

"Do you really think so? He seems pretty adamant about staying here and coming into our lives." AJ sighed.

"Like he said… he wants to start playing that card then we just call the cops. We don't need this right now. He means nothing. He'll always mean nothing." Seth said as AJ nodded, "Don't worry about it, ok?" He wrapped an arm around her as she sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You know I'm gonna worry about it anyway." AJ said, "I just want to make sure your mom is ok. She doesn't need those old wounds reopening." She said.

"Well I'm not a little kid anymore. If he thinks he can go there with her again then… he got another thing coming for him." Seth said, "He'll learn his place and disappear." He figured. He hoped. He was trying his best to convince AJ that things would be ok.

"I really hope you're right." AJ nodded, looking over at Marty, smiling when she watched her score a goal into the small little goal posts they had set up, "She's good."

"She is. Little soccer player on your hands." Seth smiled as AJ nodded.

"I keep having these dreams." AJ sighed, pulling back and looking at him.

"About what?" Seth asked her.

"The girls are older. They're teens, adults basically. And it starts out that Phil is there. He's with me and whatever is going on in the dream, we're there together and then… then he disappears." AJ gulped, looking down, "I've never woke up from a dream crying before." She admitted truthfully as Seth sighed.

"He's gonna get better, April." Seth nodded, "We just gotta believe that."

"I can't do any of this without him." AJ shook her head, "We're a team, you know. And we… we're supposed to watch the girls grow up together. And he's… he's supposed to be there for them-"

"He will be." Seth nodded, "It's dreams you're having-"

"What if it's a sign-"

"April." Seth shook his head, "You're being silly."

"Well I'm scared." AJ told him truthfully.

"Hey, I know you are. Of course I know you are." Seth nodded, "And I am too… but he's hanging on. He's still here." He reminded her as AJ nodded, "You're gonna grow old with him, and watch the girls grow up together… believe it." He said as AJ looked at him and nodded, smiling a little.

"I don't think I could handle them on my own as teenagers." AJ admitted as Seth smiled.

"I don't envy it." Seth nodded.

"Hey, you'll have kids one day." AJ smirked, "My kids need cousins."

"Yeah, Becky has already started talking about it." Seth nodded as AJ smiled.

"You'd be an amazing dad." AJ smiled to him.

"Well I look up to my brother in that respect." Seth nodded as AJ smiled.

"He'd appreciate you saying that." AJ nodded to him.

"I'll let him know when he wakes up." Seth nodded positively as she smiled, linking her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder. His belief in his brother gave her all the more strength to believe that things would get better, as messy as they were getting, it would always get better.

* * *

"_Are they not talking to each other again?" Punk asked, walking through to the kitchen where AJ was making coffee in a blurry setting, "Walked into the living room. Marty is on her phone, Kaia watching TV… both ignoring each other and me apparently." He said._

"_They came home from school and they weren't talking." AJ shrugged._

"_What is with them?" Punk screwed his face up, "They used to like each other."_

"_Teen hormones." AJ figured._

"_I wasn't like that as a teen." Punk scoffed._

"_Are you kidding? You were a little shit." AJ nodded with a smile._

"_Still married me though." Punk smirked cockily as she shoved him, feeling him pull her in, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her cheek, "You think I should try talking to them?"_

"_Hey, that is your funeral." AJ said._

"_I can handle them." Punk said with confidence, "Watch this space." He nodded, strolling through to the living room where both his daughters, one sixteen and one eighteen, were sat on opposite couches, not speaking to each other._

"_You're blocking the TV." Kaia looked at him, "Move."_

_Punk grabbed the remote from her and turned the TV off, "Oops." Punk smiled._

"_Hey, I was watching say yes to the dress." Kaia shook her head as Punk walked over to Marty and grabbed her phone from her._

"_What the hell?" Marty sat up angrily right away._

"_How about you actually talk to each other instead of burying your head in this." He held up Marty's phone, "Or watching programs about… dresses." He shook his head at Kaia._

"_You literally love that show." Kaia shook her head._

"_I'm allowed to. I'm old and I watch it whilst falling asleep on the couch." Punk said as Kaia rolled her eyes._

"_This is invading my privacy." Marty stood up, trying to take the phone back from him._

"_Don't try it, braces." Punk warned her as she looked at him._

"_Stop calling me that." Marty said as Punk smiled, referring to the new braces she'd got in her teeth. He liked stepping on their toes, it was fun, and it made them closer._

"_Why aren't you talking to each other?" He asked them, "What happened at school? Fill me in." He folded his arms._

"_She's on crack and everyone is bullying me for it." Marty exaggerated, "Dad you gotta help me." She held onto his arm as Kaia scoffed._

"_Oh, please. If anyone ends up on crack it's gonna be you." Kaia shook her head._

"_I'd really like it if… if none of you ended up on crack, that would be ideal for me." Punk nodded to them both, "Seriously, what is going on?"_

"_I'm going on a date with someone she likes." Kaia shrugged as Marty looked across at her, "And to ruin it for me she told him all this bullshit about me and people keep calling us the Brooks sisters and basically I hate her." She pointed to her sister as Punk raised his eyebrows._

"_I… really wish I didn't ask." Punk admitted._

"_She knew I liked him." Marty said, "And she's still going out with him. You're a horrible person." Marty spat._

"_He doesn't like you so… why should I miss out on a date with a hot guy because you're jealous? Plus you can't even kiss anyone with that grill in your mouth." Kaia said as Marty gasped._

"_Oh so I have to kiss someone for them to like me? You seem confident in yourself." Marty nodded._

"_Listen to yourselves." Punk interrupted them as they stood between him, "This is really over a guy? A guy? The male species?" He asked them._

"_He's really cute." Kaia cared to let him know._

"_I don't care." Punk told her honestly as she looked at him, "You're both better than that. You really think this is what defines you? If you're with a cute guy or not?" He asked them both as they stood quietly, "Guys are gonna come and go. Sisters don't." He reminded them as Marty and Kaia looked at each other._

_AJ walked into the room and watched from the living room door, listening to Punk as he spoke to them._

"_I already know that this little punk isn't good enough for either of you." Punk nodded, "Neither of you should settle for anything but the best. I mean that in every aspect of life." He said as they listened to him, "Don't ever let a guy make you feel like you aren't worth it, or that you're an afterthought, or worse… that you need to be someone else." He said as Kaia folded her arms._

_AJ smiled to herself and wandered her way back into the kitchen._

"_Apologise to each other." Punk told them as Marty looked over to Kaia._

"_Sorry." Marty said quietly._

"_Sorry." Kaia replied as Punk nodded._

"_And hug." He pointed to them both as they rolled their eyes, "Let's go, let's go." He clapped as they huffed and walked towards each other, hugging it out as Punk smiled._

_He wrapped his arms around both of them, not letting them escape as they both groaned._

"_Y'all aren't ever getting boyfriends anyway." He told them._

"_Yeah, ok, dad." Kaia scoffed._

"_Hey can you guys stop making fun of my braces? Do they really look bad?" She wondered._

"_They're stunning." Punk told her, kissing her head as Marty smiled. _

_AJ continued pouring the coffee in the kitchen, pausing when she suddenly started to hear yelling again, loud yelling coming from the living room. It was abrupt and sudden which confused her._

_She rushed into the living room where she saw Marty and Kaia yelling at each other. They were in each other's faces, yelling and shrieking at each other angrily whilst Punk was nowhere to be seen…_

* * *

AJ jumped awake in the hospital, sitting on a chair by Punk's bed where she had accidentally fallen asleep. She moved her neck side to side and sat up.

She'd spent most of the night sitting in the hospital talking to her husband. The girls were staying at Seth's where she knew they were safe. So much was on her mind, especially Jack. She really wasn't sure what his intentions were. They certainly weren't good. She knew that much.

She realised it was pretty late and she needed to get home. She began putting her coat on, turning around to Punk to give him a kiss goodbye when she saw the most miraculous, joyful things she'd ever seen in her entire life. His eyes. Open.

"Ph-Phil." AJ dropped her purse, looking over at him. He wasn't moving his body, or his head, but he was blinking, his eyes were open. She could see those olive, mysterious eyes again, "Phil." AJ placed her hand on her chest and took his hand, watching as he turned his head to her. She'd never felt more relieve in her entire life.

He wasn't saying anything, just staring at her with a little confusion, squeezing onto her hand as tears welled in her eyes. She knew the side effects of comas. Waking up from them wasn't as simple as resuming back to everyday life, especially not with his injuries, but it was all the hope in the world that she needed.


	30. Shadow

**Shadow**

* * *

"What's going on? Is he gonna be ok?" AJ asked, standing back in the hospital room whilst Tracy had arrived to check on Punk after he had opened his eyes.

"He's gradually waking up." Tracy nodded to her, "It might take him a while to even say something, but… it's great that he's opened his eyes." She said, "We'll do a sound test with him later and up his medication. He's gonna be in a lot of pain with his chest." She said as AJ nodded.

"How long do you think it'll take him to… speak and move some more?" AJ asked.

"I'm not sure. It can be different for everyone." Tracy said, "Things are headed in the right direction, though. He'll probably be in and out of sleep. It could take him another day or so to properly wake up." She said as AJ nodded. It was still all the hope in the world. To see his eyes opened, even if they weren't completely functioning with the rest of his body, it was still the best news they could get.

"Do you think he can hear me?" AJ asked, walking over towards the bed where Punk was lying, drifting in and out of sleep.

"Yeah, he probably can." Tracy smiled, "We'll keep him monitored closely. Things should start looking up." She nodded. The biggest hurdle, he had jumped over. The unknown feeling of what if he didn't wake up had finally left her. He was awake. Even if he couldn't talk to her or even look at her, knowing he'd woken up was so much hope.

"Thank you." AJ nodded to Tracy who smiled.

"That's ok." Tracy smiled, leaving the room and closing the door behind her as AJ took her coat back off.

"Hey, baby." AJ smiled softly, leaning over and kissing his head. His eyes were opening and closing, but even still, it was the best, hopeful sight she could have seen, "It's gonna be ok." She nodded, cupping his cheek softly.

* * *

"_I thought you had moved out." Punk said, walking into the kitchen where he saw AJ sitting. No longer teenagers anymore but still young adults. He'd just gotten home from the academy for a Summer break, and he had been told by his mother that AJ was moving out to her own place._

"_I'm trying to." AJ said, sitting at the kitchen table, "The date keeps getting pushed back. I was supposed to get my keys last week." She shook her head._

"_Mad stress?" He asked, opening up the fridge._

"_You have no idea." AJ sighed, "I didn't know you were home this soon." She admitted._

"_Yeah. Broke off Friday. Went on a road trip with Dean and some chicks from the class at the weekend." He told her as she nodded slowly and looked down, "How's the new job going?" He asked._

_The truth was, he hadn't really spoken to her since he found her on the bathroom floor and had rushed her into hospital. He really wasn't sure what to say to her. He could still be himself around her, but things just felt a little more awkward._

"_It's not a job." AJ laughed a little, "I'm completing my residency." She said._

"_What's that?" Punk shook his head._

"_It's like… postgraduate training." She said as he nodded._

"_Well are you liking it?" He asked._

"_Yeah, it's not too bad." AJ nodded, "Adding all this moving out stress to it isn't the best." AJ sighed, "What about you? How was your term?" She smiled. She hadn't spoken to him since Christmas time when she had tried to take her life. He'd been gone up until now and she wasn't really sure how he would be around her._

"_It was good." Punk nodded, "Yeah it was a lot of fun. Glad to get a break though." He admitted as AJ nodded, "How have you been?" He asked._

"_Fine." AJ smiled casually._

"_I mean… really… how have you been?" He nodded to her as AJ looked up at him, knowing he was referring a little more specifically._

"_Still bipolar." She teased as he nodded slowly, "I'm doing ok." She nodded, "I'm still… trying to figure out medication and… how to help myself." She sighed as he nodded._

"_Have you told Seth and my mom about… what happened?" He asked her._

"_No… and I… I really don't plan to." AJ said._

"_I think they should know. I mean… I don't feel comfortable being the only person who knows. Seth is your best friend. I'm the… I'm the one you hate. If anyone should know, it's Seth."_

"_No, I don't want him to know. It's just more for them to worry about. The only reason you know is because… you found me. It's not like I chose to tell you." She shrugged, "You also don't need to tiptoe around me. I'm not this timebomb waiting to go off-"_

"_I'm not tiptoeing around you." Punk shook his head._

"_You didn't even come say goodbye to me when you left for the academy again, at Christmas." AJ said, "And you avoided me when I came home from the hospital-"_

"_Well sorry if I was… a little freaked out." Punk said, "I didn't know what to say to you. I didn't know you were-"_

"_What?" AJ shook her head._

"_I didn't know you were in such a bad place." He said, "To wanna kill yourself." He shook his head. It made him realise just how vital she was in his life, and that scared him. He always enjoyed teasing her, making her hate him, saying things that crossed the line, but seeing her in hospital, so unhappy with herself and her life, it really hurt him._

"_Why would you? You're never here." AJ shrugged, "I'm good at hiding it."_

"_I just think Seth should know, to know the severity of it, so that maybe if-"_

"_If what? I try and do it again? He'll be forever on suicide watch?" AJ questioned, "No. It's just gonna worry him and I plan on getting better and dealing with this. I'm not… I'm not letting it control my life like it did with my mom. I can… I can help myself." She nodded to herself as Punk looked at her._

_He'd gotten to watch as a pre-teen, growing up into an incredibly strong woman. He was inspired by her strength in everything. _

"_Well I just don't want you to feel like you're in that place again where… you have no choice." Punk said as AJ looked across at him._

"_Is this what it feels like to have Phil Brooks care about you?" AJ smiled a little as he laughed and shook his head._

"_No." He scoffed, "You're still annoying little April who eats all my cereal and hogs the shower for hours." He said as AJ nodded and smiled._

"_Well… I won't be hogging the shower for much longer. I'm hoping I can move out at least by next week." She shook her head. _

"_I don't even know where you're moving to." Punk said._

"_You haven't asked." AJ shrugged. She was a tad disappointed that he hadn't been as supportive. She wasn't expecting it, but she figured since he was pretty much the only person who knew how bad her mental health had gotten, that he would have possibly made more of an effort. She figured that was just the type of person he was._

"_Well… where are you moving to, April?" Punk shook his head._

"_It's just a few blocks away." AJ nodded, "Not that you'll ever come visit me."_

"_You're right. I probably won't." He nodded, "I'd love to stick around and chat but I have a date."_

"_A date? You… don't date." AJ shook her head._

"_Yeah, well… she thinks it's a date." Punk shrugged._

"_You're a terrible person." AJ told him, "You are the reason us girls get confidence issues. When losers like you trick us into bed and then never call us back-"_

"_I'm not tricking anyone." Punk made clear, "Not my fault I'm so irresistible." He smirked as AJ made fake throwing up noises._

"_So smug." AJ shook her head as he smiled and nodded. _

"_You say that like I don't already know." Punk said, "Have fun with all your books." He pointed as AJ just made a face, watching him leave the kitchen and shaking her head._

* * *

"I mean… can you believe it? He really opened his eyes." AJ nodded, standing in the kitchen with Seth. The girls were both asleep in bed, but she had to share the good news with Seth.

"It's good." Seth nodded with relief, "It's amazing." He said as AJ nodded.

"It felt so good to see his eyes." AJ nodded, "Tracy said it… it might take him a couple of days to really come around but… but it's the best progress we could ask for." AJ said as Seth nodded.

"I'm gonna stop by tomorrow morning before I go to work." Seth said, "You think he'll be in pain?"

"Well Tracy said his chest will be really sore. He's gonna be off from work for a while." AJ figured.

"He won't be a fan of that." Seth predicted.

"Well of course not but it's not just a bruise or a cut." AJ said, "He needs to rest." She shook her head as Seth nodded, "I just… I can't wait for him to be back home." She sighed.

"Just take it slow." Seth advised, "He's just opened his eyes but… he might be out of hospital for a while." Seth nodded as AJ turned to him.

"I know that but… but this is good. He woke up." AJ said, "You… You can't be negative about that-"

"I'm not being negative. I'm just saying that… don't jump ahead." Seth said, "It could still take him a few days to even say something. His body is going through a lot-"

"I know that, Seth." AJ said as Seth looked across at her.

"You been sleeping?" Seth wondered.

"What do you think?" AJ asked him, clearing up the kitchen, "Look, you don't have to tell me… I know this isn't perfect, but it's the hope we needed. I know he's got a long way to go but he woke up." She said, "He woke up, Seth." She shook her head as Seth smiled, "And yeah, you know what… I'm gonna start thinking about him talking to me, and eventually him coming home." She nodded, "Because I miss my husband. Ok?" She looked at him.

"I know." Seth put his hands up, "I know. Hey, I'm so relieved too. I just… I don't want you to think it'll all go back to normal now."

"I know it won't. I'm not stupid." AJ said, "But things are already so much better than they were yesterday." AJ nodded, "And I gotta use that as strength." She said as Seth nodded.

"Of course." Seth nodded, "Hey, I know he's gonna get home and he's gonna be fine, but… just one day at a time, yeah?" He nodded to her as she nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, "I'm just… thinking about when I can take the girls in to see him, when he's more awake and moving more." She nodded, "They're gonna be so excited." She smiled.

She knew her husband still needed a lot of care and time, but this was the hope she needed, the sign that things, no matter how bad they looked, they were going to get better.

"Mom was practically crying when I told her he'd woke up." Seth smiled as AJ placed her hands over her mouth and smiled.

"I was crying too." AJ laughed a little as Seth nodded, "How is she? Did you tell her about Jack?"

"Yeah. She was calm. Just said that if he comes near her she'll send him packing, and if that doesn't work then… then we just turn to the cops. It's never gonna be like how it was back then."

"Yeah, damn right it won't." AJ nodded, "When I was calling Dean earlier to let him know about Phil, he told me that they were officially charging Jensen today." She said as Seth nodded.

"Good." Seth nodded, "Phil doesn't need to deal with any of that shit in the coming weeks." He shook his head.

"No, he really doesn't." AJ agreed, "Although, he'll probably want to know what happened." She nodded.

"Well yeah, it's Phil we're talking about." Seth said as AJ nodded, listening as there was a knock at the door, both of them looking at each other wearily.

"I'll get it." AJ dried her hands from clearing the dishes.

"No." Seth shook his head, "I will." He decided. They both had the same telling look on their face as they both wound up walking out of the kitchen, heading for the door and opening it up as Seth stood in front of AJ a little.

"Seth." Jack smiled to himself, "My boy." He looked across at Seth who glared back whilst AJ stayed behind. It appeared he was the lurking shadow in all of this.


	31. Bad Man

**Bad Man**

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here again?" Seth spat as Jack looked at them both.

"Well I was hoping to find my son. Not this son but… the other one." Jack nodded, "But it appears to me that Phil is conveniently never around at the minute."

"Stop coming to this house." Seth spat, "We'll call the cops. You really wanna risk your strict probation?" He questioned. He had no connection towards this man what so ever. He felt nothing for him. Even if he was his father. It made no difference to him. Certainly not when he knew what he had done.

"Call the cops and say what? What am I doing that is so wrong?" Jack shook his head, stepping into the house and budging by Seth whilst AJ watched.

"This is harassment." AJ spat, "This is my house and I don't want you in it. None of us want you here-"

"Ok, I'm really fed up of you saying that. You aren't actually who I want to see." Jack looked at AJ, stepping closer to her as Seth stood in front of her and glared at his father, "I want to see my sons." Jack smiled.

"Yeah and your sons don't want to see you." Seth said, "Maybe you need to hear that straight from us, but what April has been telling you is true. We don't care about you and we don't want you here."

"Little harsh." Jack raised his brows.

"Harsh? You wanna know what harsh is? Beating on mom. And my brother. I'd say that's sort of harsh." Seth nodded.

"What's a guy go to do around here to be given a chance? Don't you think that I've bettered myself. I've been in prison for years. I've thought about all the terrible things I did and I'd like to make it right. Only you guys can let me do that-"

"Well we're not." Seth said, "You're not in our life anymore and you never will be." Seth nodded, "You need to accept that and move on. We don't need this right now. Not with mom going through her shit and Phil in hospital-"

"Why is Phil in hospital?" Jack questioned as AJ ran her hand through his hair, "Something wrong?"

"Like you actually care." Seth shook his head.

"Wouldn't you just believe that I do care?" Jack asked.

"No." Seth answered truthfully, "I'd never believe that."

"He just got caught up in a work accident." AJ said, "That's it."

"I see." Jack nodded slowly, "Well maybe I'll go visit your mom-"

"No. No you won't." Seth spat, "You should just go. Please." Seth shook his head as AJ looked at Jack.

She couldn't understand why he was so persistent when they clearly did not want him anywhere near them. He made her feel uncomfortable, and worried, and she didn't want that vibe around her, leering at the back of her mind all the time. Especially not now.

"What's wrong with Phil?" Jack asked them curiously.

"He was in a coma." Seth nodded, "It wasn't looking good but he's… he's on the right track." Seth said, "Not that I feel like I have to tell you that."

"I'm still his father." Jack insisted.

"No… no, to be a father you have to be there for your kid. Biology doesn't mean a damn thing." Seth made clear as Jack nodded to himself.

"You both have every right to hate me. I didn't expect anything less." Seth assured him, "But I'm trying and if… if I'm not given a chance to be better than how… how can I prove it to you or myself?"

"You know what would prove it?" Seth asked, "If you just left us alone. That would be the smartest, best thing you've ever done for us." Seth nodded.

"And what about your mother? Is that how she feels? And Phil?" Jack asked.

"You really don't want to know how Phil feels about you." AJ made clear, "Nadine is much better off without you. She's stronger without you."

"You really think so?" Jack tested as AJ nodded.

"I know so." AJ said.

"And what about my grandchildren? I don't get to know them or get to see them? Because I made a mistake twenty something years ago?" He questioned.

"You don't get to see them." AJ said, "You never will." She said.

"I really don't like you." Jack nodded to her as AJ smiled.

"Good." AJ smiled, "Now get the hell out of my house." She spat as Jack looked at Seth.

"You really aren't gonna give me a chance?" Jack questioned as Seth shook his head.

"No. I'm not." Seth said as Jack looked down, nodding slowly to himself.

"Then I'll go talk to your mom. It doesn't take much to convince her-" Jack was cut off as Seth punched him hard across the face.

"Seth!" AJ jumped with horror, watching as Jack grabbed Seth around the throat and banged him against the wall.

"This is where your big brother would have warned you not to do that. He would know better." Jack spat, choking Seth against the wall as AJ tried to pull Jack back, but she couldn't match his strength unfortunately, "Let me make myself clear, boy. You don't get to tell me what to do." He said as Seth tried to pull his hands from his throat.

"Let him go!" AJ shrieked as Jack let Seth go, dropping his hands from around his neck and punching him across the face as Seth fell over onto the stairs, "Stop!" AJ pleaded, trying to make her way over to Seth when Jack stood in her way, grabbing her by the shoulders and pinning her against the wall with a loud thud as AJ looked up at him.

"You started this." Jack smiled to her, holding her by the shoulders so she couldn't get away whilst AJ looked over at Seth who was bleeding, trying his best to get to his feet.

"Let go of me!" AJ spat.

"You should be careful how you speak to people, April." Jack nodded, "Especially me." He said, lowering his face as close to hers as possible, "I want to meet my grandchildren." He nodded to her as AJ stared at him.

"Go to hell." AJ spat as Jack smiled.

"No, I'm gonna stay here instead." Jack insisted, "Send my love to Phil." He let her go, backing away and turning to Seth who was struggling on the ground, "Might wanna check on him, nurse." He smirked, walking out of the house and closing the door over behind him as AJ took a deep breath.

"Seth." AJ gasped, rushing over to the bottom of the stairs, "Hey, let me see." She lifted his head up where he was busted open on his eyebrow, and looked rather drowsy, which indicated to her that he had a concussion, "Do you feel sick? Dizzy?" AJ asked him.

"Did he hurt you?" Seth asked.

"No, I'm fine." AJ insisted, "You need to go to the hospital." AJ shook her head.

"No… no, I'm fine." Seth sat up on the bottom stair, "Just… get the first aid." He nodded to her as she rushed down to the kitchen, grabbing the first aid box which was normally used for the girls when they cut their knees outside playing.

She rushed back to the bottom of the stairs.

"Seth, you might have a concussion." AJ shook her head, opening up the first aid box and cleaning him up as he shook his head.

"No… no, I'm fine." Seth said, trying to shake it off. He didn't want to admit that his own father had rocked him pretty hard, to the point of possible black out, "Are you sure you're ok? Did he hurt you?" He asked with concern.

"Hey, I'm fine." AJ assured him, "I'm fine." She nodded, cleaning him up.

"I gotta get home to my mom and… and Becky. Make sure they're ok." Seth nodded.

"Wait, you're still bleeding." AJ sighed, trying to fix him up, "Let me put a stitch in it at least."

"No, I'll be fine." Seth said, taking the wipes from her and dabbing the cut, "I'm fine." He nodded, standing up from the stairs as AJ shook her head.

"I can't believe this… I mean… I can't believe he's doing this. What the hell does he want?" AJ shook her head, feeling helpless as ever. All she wanted to do was concentrate on her husband, on his health and their family, but they had to worry about Jack.

"He wants back in mom's life so he can control again. That's what he wants." Seth said, "And she's vulnerable right now. He'll tell her everything she wants to hear and she'll take comfort in it-"

"You know we can't let that happen." AJ looked at him.

"Of course I know." Seth said, continuing to wipe the blood from his head, "We just gotta stick together." He said, "I'll call Dean in the morning, see if we can get some sort of restraining order." He nodded.

"Ok." AJ nodded, "Are you sure you're ok?" She sighed, placing her hand on his arm.

"I'm fine." Seth nodded. Even though he didn't feel connected to this man, him being practically a stranger, it still hurt to be punched so carelessly by his own father. It made him realise how much his brother had gone through in his younger days, and how terrified he must have been as a kid.

"Be careful." AJ said, "Just call me when you get back home." She nodded to him, hugging him tightly.

"I will." Seth said, "Lock your door behind me. I'll call you in the morning." He said, kissing her head as she nodded, watching him leave the house, locking the door behind him immediately and taking a deep breath.

* * *

"Phil Brooks." Jack nodded, standing at the hospital desk as Tracy stood behind.

"And you are?" Tracy asked. She knew the regular people who had been visiting Punk. AJ, Seth, Nadine and Dean. This man was not a regular visitor.

"His father." Jack said, "You want me to get you some ID out?" He questioned arrogantly, taking his wallet out and showing her as she looked on curiously.

"It's just… I haven't seen your face before. That's all." Tracy said, "Visiting hours are a lot more strict in ICU. You can't see him right now unfortunately." She said.

"I'm uh… I just found out about him and I'd really appreciate if you let me see him. I won't stay long, I promise." Jack said as Tracy looked across at him, "Please." He said innocently as Tracy nodded slowly.

"Not long." Tracy held him to it, "He's in room 209. Down that hall and to your right. You'll see the numbers on the wall." She told him, "He's been doing good today. Was chatting to me a little earlier. April's gonna be thrilled when she comes by in the morning." Tracy smiled as Jack nodded slowly.

"I'm sure she will be." Jack said, "What are his injuries again?"

"Uh… he's got a broken sternum, collapsed lung which he's still on oxygen for." Tracy said as Jack nodded.

"Not good, huh?" Jack wondered.

"He's progressing really well." Tracy nodded, "We've left the danger area." She said.

"Oh, good." Jack smiled, "Good. Well… I'll make it quick." He nodded, leaving the desk and walking down the hall through the quiet hospital.

Most rooms he passed, patients were all sleeping. It was getting later and all that could really be heard was machinery in different rooms.

He finally found the room he had been directed to and walked on in, pausing at the door as he looked over at Punk lying sleeping in bed. He walked further into the room, closing the door behind him and making his way over to the bed.

It was the first time he'd seen his eldest son since he was just a little boy. He and Seth had done quite the bit of growing up.

"Long time no see." Jack hummed, sitting down on the chair beside the bed, "Not a little kid anymore, are you?" He said, looking on at Punk, listening to the oxygen going in, looking at the machines he was hooked up to, "You always were weak." He nodded to himself, "Who knew you'd do so well for yourself?" He questioned.

"Met your wife. She's a beauty." Jack smiled, "Fiery little thing. Doesn't know when to shut up, though." He sat back on his chair, "And your beautiful little girls. Adorable little things." He nodded, watching Punk begin to move a little, shifting his arms a little and opening his eyes as Jack sat up.

"Hey, kid." Jack smiled, looking on as Punk opened his eyes, opening and closing them as he began to look around.

Punk really wasn't sure what was going on. He was waking up every now and then with no regard to where he even was or what was going on, but when he turned around and seen his father, he realy didn't know where he was. He had to have been dreaming, or having a nightmare.

"Hey, buddy." Jack noticed Punk notice him, "Little banged up there, huh?" He smirked as Punk looked at him.

"Y-You." Punk struggled, "W-What-"

"Hey, you save that breath for your lovely wife." Jack nodded, standing up and leaning over, "I'll see you when you're better." He smirked as Punk looked at him with confusion.

Jack noticed the oxygen tube connected to the machine which was helping Punk, smiling to himself as he grabbed a hold of it, cutting the connecting off to Punk and watching him.

Punk suddenly began to feel short of breath, gasping a little bit as he realise he was no longer getting oxygen through to him, looking on at his father who smiled and leaning forward, "You being in here makes my life a whole lot easier, so thanks kid." Jack smiled, "I can't wait to know my grandkids and my daughter-in-law." He nodded as Punk looked at him, starting to lose his breath, trying to reach out and grab him as Jack eventually let go of the tube, letting the oxygen flow back through as Punk found his breath again, leaning his head back on the pillow as he looked at Jack.

"B-Bastard." Punk muttered breathlessly as Jack smiled.

"What are you gonna do about it, Phil?" Jack smiled as Punk looked at him, "I'll let you rest. Looks like you need it." He nodded, turning around and leaving the room.


	32. Sucked In

**Sucked In**

* * *

"Hey, April." Tracy caught up with AJ who had entered the hospital the next morning, "April." She called as AJ paused and turned around.

"Hey, Tracy." AJ said, "Is-Is everything ok?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you about last night." Tracy said.

"Last night?" AJ questioned, "W-What happened? Is Phil ok?"

"Oh, he's fine. Yeah, he's been chatting to me this morning. Some of it doesn't exactly make sense." She smiled, "But he's doing good." She nodded as AJ smiled. It was the news she needed to keep her going, "But his father came to visit him last night."

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"He came really late and I felt kinda bad so I let him in-"

"How long was he here?" AJ questioned, "Tracy, please do not let him in again." AJ made clear. She was mad at herself for not calling the hospital and warning them.

"He was just here for fifteen minutes or something." Tracy said, "I thought it was strange that he was appearing so late."

"Don't let him back in." AJ nodded as Tracy looked at her.

"Is everything ok?" Tracy asked.

"Yeah, just… just promise you won't let him back in here." AJ nodded.

"Of course." Tracy said, "I-I shouldn't have let him in anyway. He seemed so genuine."

"Don't be fooled." AJ said, "Is Phil awake right now?"

"Yeah, he was when I left. We did some sound tests with him earlier and everything is good. There's also no damage to his spine either. He can feel everything." She smiled.

"That's good to know." AJ nodded, "I can't wait to see him."

"Off you go." Tracy smiled as AJ nodded, rushing down the hospital corridor towards Punks room, walking on in and smiling immediately as she actually saw him sitting up for the first time, with his eyes fully opened.

"Phil." AJ sighed with relief, closing the door over and walking to his bed as he smiled, "Hi." AJ gasped, dumping her purse down and leaning over to cup his cheeks.

"Hey." Punk said quietly as AJ closed her eyes, leaning her head against his. Hearing his voice was the best feeling in the world. She was struggling so much without him. Without his love, his assurance and support, "You ok? You're upset." He said, noticing she looked very upset.

He was conscious enough to now know where he was and what had happened. It had taken him a full day to really come in and out of consciousness, and to even find words to say. He was still struggling and was extremely tired and in a lot of pain, but he recognised his wife and he was happy to see her.

"I'm not upset." AJ promised him, looking into his eyes, kissing him softly. She could have cried when she felt him kiss back. For a week she had been kissing him and just longing for him to kiss back, and now she could finally feel it, and all she wanted to do was kiss him forever.

She eventually pulled back and took a seat beside his bed, "How are you feeling?" AJ asked him.

"You don't wanna know." Punk smiled softly. The pain he was feeling in his chest wasn't like anything he'd felt before. He preferred not to describe it to his wife.

"Well they've got you on some pretty strong pain meds." AJ nodded to him, "They'll kick in and out of your system and they'll help." She said, taking his hand in hers.

"How are the… the girls?" He asked tiredly.

"They're fine. They're good. Kaia is at school and Marty is with your mom and Becky." AJ nodded, "They've really been missing you." She said.

"I miss them." Punk nodded, "Need to bring them."

"Maybe give it a few days until you're stronger." AJ said as he nodded. She wondered if he had been sleeping when his father had come in last night. He hadn't mentioned it and she figured if he had saw him, he would have.

"What happened with Jensen?" Punk asked her.

"They took him in and they charged him the other day. I've been staying clear." She said, "Just focusing on you." She nodded, "He'll never get back out of prison." She said as Punk nodded slowly.

She wasn't sure if she could tell him about Jack. It was the last thing she wanted to when he had practically just woken up from a coma. But she couldn't keep things from her husband.

"Your dad is out of prison." AJ said as Punk looked across at her.

"I know." Punk nodded as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"You saw him last night?" AJ asked.

"Yeah." Punk said, "Has he… has he saw you? He's not… has he hurt you?" Punk asked worriedly as AJ looked across at him.

"He's been at the house a couple times." AJ nodded, "He wants a chance and he wants to know the girls." AJ shook her head, "And I don't know what to do." She admitted truthfully, "Normally… you're here and you make the good decisions and… and we're… we're safe with you, the girls are safe but I just-"

"April." Punk squeezed her hand as she gasped for breath and looked at him, "I am here." He reminded her as she looked at him, "You just gotta call Dean and get a restraining order." He nodded.

"Seth was calling him this morning to talk about that." AJ nodded.

"That's all we can do." Punk nodded to her. He felt helpless. He hated that he couldn't really help his family with the state he was in. All he could do was advise. And even at that, he was still feeling drowsy and weak, that he could barely register much that was going on, "I thought I was just… having a nightmare when I saw him." He admitted.

"This is my fault. I… I made him come here. I did this-"

"No." Punk whispered, "No, he would have come anyway." Punk held her hand tightly, "Just… keep an eye on my mom. He gets her alone, he'd probably end up convincing her he's changed." He sighed as AJ nodded.

"I know. Seth was gonna call Dean this morning and sort something out. We really don't need this." She said as Punk nodded.

"Can you bring the girls tomorrow?" Punk asked her, "I'll… I'll be fine. I just want to see their faces." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course I'll bring them." AJ nodded with a smile, "I just want to focus on you, and you getting better. And your mom getting better. Everything just feels so hard right now." She shook her head as he nodded.

"I'll be better soon." Punk nodded.

AJ could see he still wasn't one hundred percent himself. He was drowsy and in pain. His voice was quiet and he wasn't really taking in much of what she was saying, but she was still so in awe of his strength, and so grateful for this progress.

"You're so strong." AJ shook her head as he smiled softly, starting to fall asleep tiredly. She could see on the board above his bed how much meds they were giving him and how strong the dosage was. She didn't blame him for being so sleepy and out of it. She was just glad to hear his voice amongst all this terrifying madness.

* * *

AJ left the hospital soon after Punk had fallen asleep. She wanted him to get his rest. She could see he was still very drowsy and tired, but that was expected considering what he was going through. It was just a joy to hear his voice.

She headed to Seth's house and got out of the car, walking down the path and walking straight into the house. They didn't normally knock on each other's doors, it had always been that way.

"Seth?" AJ called.

"In here, April." Nadine called as AJ took her coat off.

"Phil was actually talking to me today." AJ sighed with relief, walking through the house to the kitchen where she saw Nadine sitting at the table.

The further she walked to the kitchen however, she saw Jack sitting at the table with her, sitting with a coffee, looking rather comfortable.

"W-What the hell are you doing here?" AJ took a step back, "Where is Marty?" AJ questioned right away.

"Becky took her out for ice-cream. Seth is at work." Nadine nodded, "Don't worry. Jack was just talking to me-"

"Then he can finish talking and get the hell out." AJ said, "He came to my house last night and punched Seth, and he grabbed me-"

"We got into a heated argument." Jack nodded to Nadine, "I've explained it all to Nadine."

"Oh, you have? So now she knows you haven't just beat on one of her sons, both of them now." AJ nodded as Nadine looked at her, "Why are you even giving him your time? How can you?" AJ looked across at Nadine.

"I was just letting him explain." Nadine nodded.

"He doesn't deserve that chance." AJ spat, "We're getting the police involved." She said, "You come near any of us and you're gonna end up back in prison. That's how it's gonna go." AJ said, looking across at Jack who just smiled and nodded.

"If this is what I get for trying." Jack shrugged, putting his hands up in defence and standing up as Nadine watched.

"No, wait." Nadine told him as AJ turned to her.

"No, go." AJ said. She could almost see Jack putting on a different face. Different to what she saw last night. He may have fooled Nadine but he couldn't fool her.

"April, I just want to talk to him. Nothing is going to happen. I'm fine-"

"You're a few weeks out of brain surgery. You do not need this right now. We do not need this." AJ made clear, "You let this man into your life and you'll lose your sons, and me, and your grandchildren. And you know you will." AJ said.

"Nadine can make decisions for herself, you know." Jack said.

"Yes, I can." Nadine said, "And this is not me taking him back. I'm just talking to him-"

"You're inviting him back into your life." AJ corrected, "And I can't… I'm not doing this. I just want to be there for my husband and help him right now and I… I don't want to deal with any of this shit. You're a parasite." AJ spat, looking towards Jack, "And you know he is." She looked at Nadine. She was disappointed that Nadine was even entertaining Jack with a conversation, with a coffee, as if nothing was happening.

"Don't worry about me so much, April. I'm fine." Nadine shook her head.

"I have to go pick my daughter up from school." AJ said, "I'll be meeting Becky and getting Marty from her too. I don't want them here anymore. And I'm sure Seth does not want him in his house." AJ said.

"April, please." Nadine sighed.

"No, I'm done with this." AJ said, trying not to cry. It was just too much, "I'm done. The police can deal with you. I'm going to be with my family. My husband and my children." AJ said, "They need me right now." She shook her head, walking out of the kitchen and out of the house as Nadine sighed to herself.

"She's an ungrateful little bitch." Jack spat as Nadine turned to him.

"She's like my daughter." Nadine told him.

"Exactly. You've taken her in. Taken care of her all this time and this is how she treats you? When you're battling one of the world's cruellest illnesses?" Jack shook his head as Nadine looked at him, "She's ungrateful." He said as Nadine folded her arms and sighed, "Look, I can go-"

"No, it's… it's ok." Nadine said, sitting back down, "You can stay for now." She nodded as Jack smiled and nodded, sitting back down at the table with her.


	33. Visiting

**Visiting**

* * *

"Guess what?" AJ smiled, making dinner in the kitchen whilst the girls sat at the table. Kaia was playing her switch whilst Marty was drawing many pictures for her father. She had taken them straight home and locked her doors. She wasn't sure what to do in this situation. She felt like she was really trying hard to prevent this man from ruining their lives and involving himself, but between Phil in hospital and Nadine practically taking him back already, she felt like she didn't have a leg to stand on.

"What?" Marty looked over to her mother.

"Guess where I'm taking you tomorrow?" She smiled, turning around and looking at them both.

"The zoo?" Kaia smiled excitedly.

"Yeah! I wanna see the koala's." Marty nodded excitedly as AJ laughed a little.

"Not the zoo." AJ smiled, "To see daddy." AJ nodded as Kaia gasped.

"Even better than the zoo." Kaia exclaimed, "Really?"

"Mhm." AJ nodded, "Tomorrow night I'll take you both." She said, "But hey, there are some rules we have to make sure we follow, ok?" She nodded.

"What rules, mommy?" Marty asked sweetly.

"Well daddy is still feeling sick. He's very tired and he's not feeling very well so we have to be so, so gentle around him." AJ nodded, "You can't jump on him like you normally do."

"Oh." Kaia frowned.

"Gentle hugs, yeah?" AJ nodded to them, "And he's still in bed. We just have to be really careful." She said. She had no doubt the girls would be gentle and considerate when they saw their father, but they were still just little children who were excitable with high energy. She just wanted to make sure.

"We'll be gentle, mommy." Marty smiled, "I have to take my drawings to him." She whispered to herself, gathering all her drawings as AJ smiled.

"Dinner won't be long." She told them, listening as there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, who is that?" Kaia sat up curiously as AJ walked out of the kitchen, looking down at the door and pausing.

"AJ, it's just me!" Dean called, knocking on the door again as AJ sighed to herself with relief.

"Just uncle Dean." AJ told the girls, walking over to the door and unlocking it, opening it up and letting him in, "Hey." AJ said.

"Hi." Dean nodded, walking into the house, "You ok?"

"Yeah… yeah, well… no actually." AJ shrugged, "Feel like I'm losing my mind a little but what's new?" AJ nodded to him, "Did Seth call you this morning about Jack?"

"Yeah, he did." Dean nodded.

"So can we get the restraining order?" AJ nodded, walking into the living room with Dean.

"Yeah, well you can file for one but… you don't just get it. It's not handed out to anyone. You'll have to go to the court. Get a lawyer. Provide evidence. It's a bit of a process." Dean nodded as AJ looked at him.

"So… so what are you saying? I shouldn't even bother?" AJ questioned, "The man isn't gonna leave. He's already suckering Nadine back in. Seth is already terrified of the man and Phil isn't even in the equation right now." AJ shook her head, "I tried. This is what I tried to prevent."

"I know." Dean nodded, "Seth saw me today. He said he was gonna try and talk to his mom. Make sure she doesn't get fooled by him. You gotta acknowledge the fact she's… she's vulnerable right now. And he seems pretty good at fooling her." Dean said.

"Yeah, trust me. I know. I think it's a little too late to talk to her. I was over at the house earlier and they were chatting over coffee. She knows that he punched Seth last night. I mean what… what kind of mother welcomes a man like that back into her children's lives? She knows what he did to Phil. I would… I would do everything in my power to make sure anyone who hurt my children, never came near me again." AJ shook her head, running her hands through her hair.

"You don't know what the woman has gone through. None of us do. This is a guy she still loves. Regardless of what he's done. That's the issue here. And right now she's probably more emotional and vulnerable what with her illness. Phil is in hospital. Seth isn't the best with advice. You've been busy with Phil and the girls… Jack found his opportunity to get to her and he has."

"And what do we do about that? She is going to get hurt." AJ shook her head, "Surely you can arrest him or something for punching Seth. Or we can... we can just set him up. Say we saw him doing drugs or something, in the street-"

"April, I'm not that kind of cop. Phil isn't either." Dean said.

"Well then what do we do, Dean? I… I can't make these decisions on my own." AJ sighed.

"Have you been talking to Phil?" Dean asked.

"He's been talking a little but… I don't think this is registering with him much." She admitted, "He's in a lot of pain and he's… he's tried and drowsy from the meds. It'll take a couple of days I think." AJ nodded, "And the last thing I want him coming around to is this mess."

"It's not your fault." Dean assured.

"I know but I can't do nothing." AJ shook her head.

"Hey, you've been doing enough. You're right. You tried to stop this from happening. This is what you were worried about and I guess your gut feelings were right. Here we are, this evil guy is out of prison and he's already weaselling his way back into Nadine's life." Dean said.

"Phil won't forgive his mom for this. If she takes him back." AJ said, "He won't. I know him. And he won't let the girls near her knowing he's around. I won't either." AJ shook he head.

"Maybe Seth can get through to her." Dean nodded, "Or maybe you could try talking to her on her own-"

"Why does she need someone to explain this to her? Why can't she see how bad this is on her own. How bad he is. He literally almost killed her last time they were together. I mean… why does he have that power over her?" AJ shook her head, sitting down on the chair as Dean folded his arms.

"Do you think he does have something over her?" Dean asked.

"What do you mean?" AJ looked up at him.

"Well yeah, it is really strange that she seems to overlook absolutely everything this man has done to her. Even after all these years." Dean said, "It's really strange."

"What could he possibly be holding over her?" AJ scoffed, "The woman is a saint. She's innocent and he's evil." AJ concluded as Dean nodded to himself, "And all I want is to just concentrate on Phil and help him right now. We don't need this."

"Just… continue to do that." Dean nodded, "Seth said he was gonna talk to his mom. I'll see if I can jump start a restraining order."

"What evidence would you use?" AJ asked.

"Well I think the fact he was put in prison for attempted murder over Nadine is a pretty good piece of evidence. I can take pictures of Seth's bruise on his eye. Build something from that." Dean said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, "I don't see how we have a choice at this point." She figured as Dean nodded.

"Hopefully he just goes away on his own." Dean sighed to himself as AJ nodded.

"I'm taking the girls in to see Phil tomorrow night." AJ said.

"Yeah? Is he up to seeing them?" Dean asked.

"Well I wasn't really sure but he was the one who asked." AJ said, "I just don't want the girls to be scared or anything. They're used to Phil being loud and throwing them around, playing with them."

"Hey, they obviously know that he's not gonna be himself. I'm sure they'll just be happy to see him." Dean said as AJ nodded, "We'll figure this shit out. Don't worry about it." He nodded to her.

* * *

"Mommy, which room?" Kaia exclaimed, walking through the ICU with AJ and Kaia the next night.

"Shh, baby." AJ said quietly, "You can't yell here. This is the… the quiet part of the hospital." AJ nodded as Kaia looked around.

"Oh." Kaia said quietly.

"So we have to whisper?" Marty whispered as AJ smiled.

"Well, we have to be quiet for sure." AJ nodded to them, "Daddy might be sleeping when we get in, so we'll have to be quiet."

"He should wake up." Kaia demanded, "I'd like to talk to him."

"I know but he's sick, baby. So we gotta let him wake up on his own." AJ nodded as Kaia huffed.

"How sick is he?" Marty wondered, "Because I don't want to be sick too. I don't want him to give me the sick." She explained as AJ smiled.

"He won't, I promise." AJ smiled, "Ok, this room here." She nodded, opening up the room door where she could see Punk was sleeping.

"Daddy." Kaia gasped happily but still in a whisper.

"He's sleeping like an angel." Marty whispered, strolling into the room and over to the bed curiously to see her father.

"Yeah, he is." AJ smiled, closing the door over quietly and walking over, noticing Marty was tapping Punk's hand impatiently. She did see how gentle Marty was being.

Punk began to wake up, noticing Marty and Kaia standing by his bed as he smiled with hazy eyes, "Hey, you two." Punk smiled as they gasped and smiled upon seeing him wake up.

"Daddy." Marty smiled happily.

"Hi." Punk smiled.

"Hi, daddy." Kaia said as AJ smiled, looking over.

"I've missed you two." Punk nodded. It was such a wonderful feeling, even in his state of pain and fatigue, to see his daughter's faces again. It really brightened up the whole room for him.

"We missed you." Marty told him, rubbing his hand sweetly, "Are you sick?" She asked him as Punk looked over to AJ who just shrugged. It was all she could really tell them.

"Yeah, I'm a little sick." Punk said, "But I'll be fine soon. I promise." He smiled.

"Here, girls. Have a seat." AJ pushed over chairs for them so they could sit up beside the bed.

"Daddy are the nurses and doctors taking care of you?" Marty questioned, sitting her teddy bear between her legs.

"No but mommy is a nurse." Kaia turned to her sister.

"So he can come home?" Marty nodded to her sister who nodded.

Punk smiled to himself. He'd missed listening into their little conversations with each other.

"Mommy's gonna take care of me when I get home, but I… I gotta stay here for a little bit." Punk explained as AJ smiled.

"What's wrong with you?" Kaia asked, "Are you getting medicine for a tummy ache? Or… a runny nose?" She wondered.

"Not quite. It's a little different." Punk said, "I got a sore chest." He said.

"Oh." Kaia nodded.

"Like right here?" Marty placed her hand on her chest, "Oh, no… do you have a sore heart?" She asked with worry as AJ smiled.

"No, my heart is really good right now." Punk promised her, "Have you both been looking after mommy?" She asked them as AJ smiled.

"We always look after mommy." Kaia told him as Punk nodded.

"I know." Punk nodded.

"Uh… daddy." Marty jumped off her chair with her bair.

"Mhm?" Punk looked at her.

"You can have my mister bear if you like." Marty told him, sitting the bear beside him which only had one eye and half torn arm.

"Oh, I can't have him-"

"He might help you." Marty wondered, "When you're sleeping he can be with you." She nodded as Punk smiled.

"Thank you, sweetness." Punk smiled, taking the bear from her weakly.

"I'd give you Benjamin my owl." Kaia said, "But uh… I don't want to." She said honestly as Punk smiled and nodded.

"I figured." Punk said. Benjamin was sacred to Kaia, he knew that much, "Hey, I'm good with mister bear." He nodded as the girls smiled.

"So what have you two been up to?" He asked them as Kaia and Marty immediately began telling him.

AJ smiled as she listened to them chat with Punk. She could see his spirit had been lifted already and it was nice to see the girls engage in a conversation with him again. She just couldn't wait for him to get home.


	34. Anniversary

**Anniversary**

* * *

"They were happy to see me." Punk smiled, looking over at Kaia and Marty who had fallen asleep on the chair beside his bed. He'd spent the night with them in his room and it was the best he had felt since waking up. Their little conversations distracted him from the pain he was in for sure.

"They've missed you." AJ nodded, sitting on a chair the opposite side as Punk looked at her, "How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"I've been better." Punk said, "But it's not as bad as the last few days." He assured her, "I slept better last night. I'm sick of sleeping." He shook his head.

"It's helping you, though." AJ said, "You need your rest. You… You went through a lot." She nodded as he looked at her.

"You forgot." Punk whispered with a small smile.

"Forgot what?" AJ asked.

"Our anniversary." He smiled as AJ looked at him.

"No… no, it's the..." AJ paused as she took her phone out, realising it was in fact their wedding anniversary, placing her hand over her mouth and looking up at him as he smiled and waved his hand.

"Hey, it's fine. I was the one who forgot last year. And no one was even in hospital then." He smiled, "Forgiven."

"Oh, Phil… I'm so sorry." AJ sighed, "My head is truly up my ass right now." She said, "Happy anniversary, baby." AJ shook her head, leaning over and kissing him, cupping his cheeks and giving him a deep meaningful kiss. It wasn't like her to forget special occasions, which made him realise just how crazy things were for her right now, and he hated it.

"Is my dad still here?" Punk asked her as she sat back down and nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded. She wasn't going to tell him about Nadine and the fact she saw them chatting over friendly coffee. All she wanted was for her husband to get better in a calm environment. Telling him this wasn't something he would have appreciated. It could wait, "We're dealing with it." AJ shrugged, "Dean's gonna help me with the restraining order."

"Could take a while for that to go through." Punk told her as she nodded.

"I know. I know… until then we just… keep our distance. If he comes around, call the cops. It's all we can do." AJ nodded.

"Don't be scared of him." Punk told her.

"Well I am." AJ admitted honestly.

"He's just a bully. He likes watching people squirm and fear him." Punk nodded, "I wish I could do more." He sighed.

"Hey, no… we got this. You don't have to worry about it. Just focus on getting better. That's honestly the most important thing right now." She nodded, "Hopefully before we know it, you'll be coming home." She smiled.

"I hope so. I miss my own bed." Punk said as AJ smiled.

"How is your chest?" AJ asked him.

"Extremely sore." Punk nodded, "You wanna see my scar? Doctor said it's good I have all these tattoos, hides the scarring really well." He nodded, pulling his t-shirt up and pulling back the bandage as she looked at the gigantic scar down his chest.

"Oh, wow… that's… that's big." AJ raised her eyebrows, "But it looks clean and like it's healing well." AJ nodded, her nurse side showing of course, "That's great." She said as he nodded, pulling his t-shirt back down, "Gosh, I can't believe I forgot our anniversary. I'm… I'm the worst wife." AJ shook her head.

"You didn't forget it. You just didn't know that today was that date." Punk shrugged, "I was lying in bed this morning thinking about how… this will be the first anniversary that we haven't had sex on." He said, "That depresses me." He nodded to her as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, me too." AJ agreed, "When you get better I promise… we'll make up for it." She nodded.

"I don't doubt that." He smiled, "How have they been?" He nodded to the girls, looking over at them sleeping against one another.

"They're fine. Just missing you." AJ nodded, "I keep letting them sleep in our bed with me. I know I should stop it but… I'm just getting a little lonely." She admitted.

"Hey, they're keeping my space war. That's ok." He smiled, "Has my dad seen them yet?" He asked her.

He wasn't sure what to make of his father returning. A part of him was still in shock. He hadn't seen the man since he was just a little boy. He hated that he couldn't do anything to make sure his family was safe.

"Yeah he saw them the other night when he came to the house." AJ nodded to him, "They were sleeping in the living room. He didn't see them for long." She said as Punk nodded.

"What was he saying to you?" Punk asked her.

"He just kept saying he had changed, that he deserved a chance to prove himself but… I didn't want to hear it. I just wanted him to leave." AJ said.

"How is my mom with it? Has she seen him?" He asked curiously.

"Uh… no, no she's not." AJ shook her head, "We're just trying to figure out how to get him away. The restraining order is a pretty lengthy wait… we kinda need something to kick in now." She sighed.

"Once you file for the order, his probation officer will be notified, that might be enough to get him put on a curfew, if he isn't already on one, I guess." Punk said, "Could keep him at bay at least."

"Yeah. Yeah, hopefully." AJ nodded, "Just… don't worry about it." She took his hand, "We'll figure this out."

"Well obviously I'm gonna worry about it." Punk smiled softly as she nodded, "Tell me what you're gonna do later." He said, "Since I can't be with you on our anniversary night." He said as she smiled, watching him pat the bed beside him.

"Oh, no… you're not supposed to sit on a patient's bed, I-"

"Not a patient. Husband." Punk reminded her as AJ smiled a little and nodded.

She got up from the chair and lay up beside him on the bed, making sure she didn't pull any of the wires out and making sure she wasn't hurting him in any way. It felt so good to finally be beside him so closely.

"So you wanna know what I'm doing with the rest of my night?" AJ asked him.

"Go on." Punk nodded.

"Well I'm taking those monsters home and I'm putting them to bed." AJ smiled, looking over at the girls, "Then I think I'll go for a bath." She nodded, "Maybe light some candles. Try and destress myself." She nodded.

"Wish I was getting in that bath with you." He sighed.

"Yeah, me too." AJ nodded truthfully.

"What else?" He asked.

"Well I haven't ate… so I'll probably make myself some food. I don't know what yet. Probably end up being a sandwich or something." She laughed as he smiled, "And I'll lie on the couch, probably start to fall asleep." She figured as he smiled, "You're not missing out on much, trust me." She looked up at him as he smiled and nodded.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as she looked at him, tilting her head a little.

"For what?" AJ questioned.

"For this. This is what you were talking about when you would tell me about working. Putting myself in danger." He said.

"Hey… don't you dare." AJ sat up, "Don't blame yourself for this. You… You didn't do this." She said, "And I don't blame you at all. You… You were doing your job. I can never be mad at you for that." She said as he looked at her, "This was personal and you got caught up in it."

"I could have been more careful. I jumped into a bullet." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah… that was headed for your best friend." AJ reminded him, "That's just the type of person you are. If it comes down to yourself or your family, you always choose them. I know that. I've known that since I first met you." She nodded, "There's no one to blame for this apart from Jensen and… that man is being dealt with." She said, "He's out of our lives."

"Did we get any answers out of him?" Punk asked.

"I don't know." AJ shook her head, "I got banned from the station."

"Banned?" Punk questioned.

"When… you were taken into hospital and they told me you were in a coma I… I got a little mad." AJ said, "I went to the station and I might have punched Jensen… and kicked him… a lot." She nodded as he raised his eyebrows.

"And why did they stop you?" Punk laughed a little as she smiled.

"I was a mess." AJ remembered, "I thought… I thought you were gone." AJ admitted, "Thought that I was going to raise the girls on my own. And let me tell you, judging by the dreams I've been having, it's not gonna be easy." She said as he smiled.

"Dreams?" Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, I kept having dreams. The girls were older in them and it would start out with you in them… and then you would just disappear." She said, "And it'd… it'd just be me and the girls." She nodded as he frowned, "And that really terrified me." She admitted, "I really thought I was going to lose you." She shook her head, sitting on the bed facing him, playing with his hand as he looked at her.

"But you aren't." Punk reminded her as she looked up, "I'm here. And I'm gonna be here." He promised her as she nodded.

"Good." AJ smiled, "Because I… I don't think I can do life… without you." She realised as he smiled a little.

"You can." Punk assured her, "But you don't have to." He said as she smiled, "So… was I old in these dreams? Did I look good?" He asked as she laughed.

"No, we were the same." AJ smiled, "Hope it stays that way." She nodded as he smiled.

"You'd be a beautiful eighty year old." Punk nodded as she laughed.

"Well thanks." AJ smiled, "The dream was only set in like ten years. Not fifty." She laughed a little as he smiled.

"Well whatever age you are, you'll always be beautiful to me." He smiled.

"That's good to know." AJ whispered, holding his hand in hers, "I'm so glad you have such a freakishly strong body." She nodded, "I'm so glad you're still here." She gulped and nodded as he smiled, cupping her cheek.

"I am too." Punk nodded, catching the tear rolling down her cheek, "I'm sorry we couldn't spend our anniversary with better scenery."

"Are you kidding?" AJ scoffed, drying her tears and resting back down beside him, "I love the sound of… heart monitors and that smell of bathroom cleaner." She nodded as he smiled.

"Better than any candle lit dinner, huh?" Punk nodded.

"Of course." AJ teased as Punk smiled.

"I love you." He whispered as she looked up at him.

"I love you too." AJ smiled, cupping his cheek softly, "When you get out of here I'm gonna be the best nurse you've ever had." She promised him as he smiled.

"I don't doubt that all." He smiled as she leaned up and kissed him softly. It was nice just to be alone, to block out everything else going on and take some time to themselves.


	35. Up To No Good

**Up To No Good**

* * *

"_All I'm saying is if there's a hot girl speeding, would you let her off with it?" Dean asked, walking through the coffee shop with Punk._

"_No, considering that is against the law." Punk nodded to him._

"_What if her tits were out?" Dean asked._

"_Still a no." Punk assured him, "I'd give her the ticket, she'd get upset and then… then I'd swoop in." He nodded._

"_Ahh." Dean pointed, impressed, "You're a man of experience." Dean nodded_

"_Yeah, speaking of… I got a date tonight." Punk said, waiting in the line at the shop._

"_A date?" Dean shook his head._

"_Well… not a date. She thinks it's a date but… it's not, obviously." Punk said, "I'm running out of places to go. Last week I took this girl to a bar and I ended up seeing two other chicks I've slept with. It's like they're in this club or something. Travelling in twos." He scoffed._

"_Or you just gotta stop sleeping with the entire Chicago female population." Dean advised as Punk shrugged._

"_It's not like I can have a girlfriend." Punk shrugged._

"_Why can't you?" Dean laughed a little._

"_Because I never have time. It wouldn't be fair. I'm actually doing the females in Chicago a favour. I don't wanna hurt anyone. Make them fall in love with me and then things go horribly because I work too much." He said, "Work comes first."_

"_Yeah, you don't wanna hurt anyone. So sleeping with them and then ignoring them after is definitely not gonna hurt anyone." Dean nodded._

"_It doesn't. They don't know me well enough to get pissed off with me. Everyone wins." Punk shrugged as Dean shook his head, "Two coffees, Lisa." Punk nodded to the barista who they knew from regularly coming in and out of the shop on their break._

"_And one of those little cake pop things." Dean added as Punk turned to him, "What? They taste good and you know it." He said as Punk just shrugged, "Hey isn't that April over there?" He pointed over to the window where AJ was sat with a coffee and some books out._

"_Yeah… yeah, it is." Punk noticed._

"_I swear she's been at med school for years." Dean rolled his eyes._

"_Well… she has." Punk laughed, "I'm sure my mom said she's sitting her final exam in a few weeks. Must be why she's studying." He nodded._

"_So is it just like a normal nurse she wants to be or… what's the deal?" Dean asked._

"_She wants to be a paediatrician I think." Punk nodded casually, even though he knew for sure that's what she wanted to do, "I think she needs to do another extension after she graduates for that."_

"_Poor girl must be sick of studying. Couldn't be me." Dean shook his head, "That one exam we sat at the academy was bad enough for me."_

"_Well it's what she really wants to do." Punk shrugged as Dean nodded._

"_So are you gonna be a bastard and ignore her? Or are you gonna go say hi?" Dean raised a brow as Punk turned to him._

"_Well… we gotta get back-"_

"_We're on our break." Dean interrupted, "Why are you always so mean to her?"_

"_I'm not mean. I don't even talk to her anymore since she moved out and I moved out. I barely see her." Punk said._

"_All the more reason to go say hi to her." Dean said, "Go. I'll get the coffees and take them back to the car." He said as Punk just nodded, walking through the coffee shop and over to where AJ was sitting with her head buried in books._

"_Hey." Punk said, noticing she didn't look up, realising she had earphones in. He then resorted to tapping her as she looked up and raised her eyebrows._

"_Oh." AJ pulled the earphones from her ears, "Hi." AJ shook her head, "I uh… I didn't see you there." She said as he smiled and nodded, sitting down at the table._

"_Too busy looking at this nonsense." He nodded to the books._

"_Yeah." AJ said, "Look at you in uniform. Officially a cop." She smiled._

"_Yeah, you like this?" He asked her as she smiled._

"_You suit it." She nodded, "You on your break?" She asked him._

"_Yeah, stopped by for a coffee." Punk nodded, "Mom said you're doing your final exams soon."_

"_Next week." AJ said, "I was studying at my place but I need an instant supply of coffee at the minute." She admitted, "And the cake pops here are incredible." She nodded._

"_So I've heard." Punk said._

"_So… how's life as a cop?" She asked him. She rarely saw him anymore. Ever since her breakdown, after trying to take her own life, they hadn't had many conversations again. She had moved out and so had he, both with different but very demanding careers ahead of them. There wasn't even any time to annoy each other anymore._

"_It's good." Punk nodded, "Busy but good." He said, "How is the studying going? Prepared?"_

"_No, honestly." AJ laughed, "Just trying not to panic." She nodded as Lisa, the barista came over._

"_More coffee?" Lisa asked AJ._

"_Oh, yeah. Please." AJ nodded with a smile._

"_Hey, Phil… are you free later on tonight?" Lisa turned to Punk whilst filling AJ's coffee up, "I'm uh… I'm going to a party, wondering if you wanna come." She smirked as AJ looked down at her books, minding her own business. She wondered how one man could be this irresistible. _

"_Sure." Punk smiled, looking up at her as AJ watched. She couldn't deny how charming he was, "I'll pick you up." He nodded to her as Lisa smiled and walked away, "Shit now I gotta cancel my other date." Punk told AJ who shook her head._

"_You are what every girl hates." AJ reminded him._

"_Lisa don't hate me." Punk smirked as AJ shook her head, "Good luck on the exams." He told her, leaning in and kissing her cheek as she just shoved him away, causing him to smile as he got up and left the table as she watched him._

* * *

"Hey, look at you." AJ smiled, walking into the hospital room where she saw Punk walking back to his bed from the toilet. He was looking better every day. His normal spirit was beginning to shine through again. Even though he was still in a lot of pain, things were going well, in the right direction.

"I know. Look at me go." Punk nodded, making his way back to his bed by himself, getting in slowly, "Where are the kids?" He asked her.

"They're with Dean. Getting pizza with him." AJ nodded, taking her coat off and sitting down on the chair, before kissing him hello sweetly.

"Pizza with Dean, huh?" Punk nodded, "You know he's the one they're gonna go to when they need something they can't ask us for." He said.

"What?" AJ laughed, "What wouldn't they ask us for?" AJ shook her head naively.

"Booze. Condoms. Cigarettes." Punk listed.

"I'd give them that if they asked." AJ shrugged as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"W-What?" Punk looked at her, "You would give our daughters? My daughters… condoms?" He questioned as AJ looked at him.

"Well not right now." AJ said sarcastically.

"Oh, God… you're being serious." Punk said, "Please… my chest can't take any more."

"Phil, what is the big deal? They're my daughters. Wouldn't you rather that than have a pregnant teenager in the house?" She asked him, "Or have them catch an infection or something-"

"Ok ok." Punk placed his hand over his eyes, "They still eat spaghettios, they still eat spaghettios." He spoke to himself as AJ smiled.

"How did you get your condoms when you were younger?" AJ asked him.

"That's… not your business." Punk tutted.

"Stole them, didn't you?" AJ figured.

"Yeah, every single one." Punk nodded as she smiled, "What about you?"

"Your mom." AJ said.

"Ok… ew." Punk nodded as AJ laughed a little, "My mom?"

"Yeah. What is the big deal? It's part of growing up." AJ said.

"But I think of me when I was younger and I was… I was horrible to women. Now I have daughter's… I worry about them finding guys like me." He admitted as AJ laughed a little, knowing what he meant.

"You were young." AJ shrugged.

"No, I really wasn't." Punk said.

"They'll be fine." AJ laughed, "As long as they're responsible and they're safe… what's the big deal? But let's not get too ahead of ourselves." She laughed to herself.

"So you were just gonna sneak this stuff to them behind my back? I thought we had trust, April." He said as AJ smiled.

"Only if they ask me. I'm not gonna go out my way to give them it." AJ laughed, "You need to calm down. Your heart rate has actually gone up, and I'm not joking." She looked at the monitor as Punk groaned.

"We gotta find a way to keep them this young forever. There must be some sort of voodoo we can do on them." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"Don't think so." AJ shook her head.

"You heard from Seth?" Punk asked her as she shook her head.

"No. When I dropped the girls with Dean earlier he said that Seth called him and said Jack hadn't been back at the house. Dean's trying to get a jump start on filing for the restraining order." AJ said, "I'm just hoping he keeps his distance." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. At least until I'm out." Punk said.

"When you get out you'll still be resting." AJ said, "And you'll be taking the appropriate time off from work." She warned.

"Yes, nurse." He nodded, "Work is the last thing on my mind, trust me." He said as AJ nodded, "So how was your anniversary night?" He asked, "I watched the frozen planet with jello."

"Oh, that's hot." AJ nodded as Punk nodded in agreement, "I did what I said. Bath, ate a sandwich and fell asleep on the couch." She said, "I missed you." She frowned, taking his hand in hers as he smiled and nodded.

"I missed you too." Punk said, looking over at the door and back to AJ.

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"You think… you could lock that door?" He wondered to himself as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Why would I lock the door?" AJ smiled a little.

"Just so… no one comes in." Punk shrugged, "Tilt those blinds." He pointed to the window as AJ looked at him.

"You have to be in too much pain." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah, my chest. Everything else is just fine." He assured her as AJ looked across at him.

She stood up from the chair and walked over to the door, locking it over and tilting the blinds by the window so no one could see in. She then walked back over to the bed and pushed her jeans down as Punk smiled to himself.

"Didn't take much convincing." He smirked.

"You know me." AJ whispered, climbing over him carefully, chuckling as she watched the heart rate monitor go up a little, "Calm down." She teased as he laughed.

She leaned down and kissed him passionately. She could sense and see just how much progress he was making through the past few days. He wasn't as drowsy or sleepy any more, clearly.

"What if someone tries to get in?" AJ whispered, pulling his shorts and boxers down under the sheets.

"You locked the door." Punk said, "Don't act like you're not loving this."

"I need this." AJ assured him, wrapping her hand around his length as Punk smirked and rolled his head back, feeling him stroke him up and down. She pushed her panties to the side, stroking the tip of his length against her clit as she leaned forward and kissed him passionately.

She eventually guided his length towards her entrance, sinking down on him as he moaned against her mouth.

"Fuck." AJ pulled back from his lips, moving her hips up and down on him, making sure she wasn't moving too abruptly, bearing in mind he had a broken sternum.

"Fuck, baby." Punk moaned, looking down and watching her hips move up and down. It definitely helped subside his pain a little, and it felt good to be connected to his wife like this again, especially when he could see she needed to get lost in something.

"Fuck, that's so good." AJ moaned, pulling at her t-shirt and moving up and down on him.

Conscious of their surroundings it didn't take either of them long to let go and find their release. AJ stayed straddling his hips, looking at him with a devious smile as he rested his head back on the pillow with a smile.

"I want more." AJ pouted sadly as Punk laughed a little, "I really fucking needed that." She nodded, leaning forward and kissing him as he kissed back.

"Your hips can really go." He nodded as she laughed a little, lifting herself off of his length.

"Latina hips. They can't dance but they can… you know." AJ nodded as he chuckled to himself, suddenly listening as someone tried to open the door, both of them turning around and laughing like children.

"Uh… Phil?" Tracy called from behind the door as AJ turned to Punk, giggling childishly as Punk smiled. It was nice to laugh again and have each other to lean on again.

"He's… he's just getting changed." AJ called back, feeling Punk touch her between her folds as she raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"Oh, ok… I'll come back." Tracy called.

"O-Ok." AJ answered back as Punk smiled, watching as she leaned forward and kissed him again, "You're bad." She whispered as he smiled.


	36. Dad Day

**Dad Day**

* * *

"_Oh, wow. Pregnant?" Eve questioned as AJ nodded, standing at the hospital desk in the department as AJ ate an apple, "Have you told Phil?"_

"_No. I found out this morning." AJ said, "He was already gone for work." She said._

"_Were you trying to get pregnant?" Eve asked as AJ shook her head, "You think he'll take the news well?" She asked._

"_I hope so." AJ nodded, "Kaia just turned three, it's not like… it's not like she's one or nine months or something." She shrugged._

"_You gonna tell him tonight?" Eve asked as AJ nodded, "Nice father's day surprise."_

"_Oh, shoot… so it is." AJ realised, "Kaia made him a card at her playgroup. It had macaroni tubes stuck to it, lots of glitter… so beautiful." AJ nodded as Eve smiled, "And he had a special breakfast this morning." She nodded._

"_You seem… calm about this news." Eve smiled, "Are you secretly excited?" She wondered._

"_I mean… yeah, I am." AJ shrugged, "It was such a cool experience the first time. So… life-changing and amazing. Kaia is becoming her own little person and she's talking to us now, tells us all about her days at playgroup and… I don't know, it'd be nice for her to have a friend close to her age. I mean we talked about more kids not long ago. We didn't decide on anything but… maybe it's a sign." She said._

"_A sign that you forgot your pill?" Eve smiled._

"_Well… technically speaking, yes." AJ shrugged as Eve nodded._

"_How you gonna tell him?" Eve asked, "How'd you tell him about Kaia?"_

"_Uh… I think it just came out." AJ said, "I was super nervous with Kaia. I feel like a pro now." She shrugged as Eve smiled, "I don't know, I'm picking Kaia up from her playgroup. Phil said he'd be home at five. I don't know whether to wait until Kaia has gone to bed."_

"_Yeah, that might be better." Eve nodded._

"_I hope he doesn't freak out." AJ nodded, "I mean… he didn't really freak out with Kaia and that was a lot scarier." She shrugged._

"_How far along do you think you are?" Eve asked._

"_Couple weeks probably." AJ nodded, "There was this really good night like five weeks ago or something." She remembered._

"_Good sex doesn't mean you're more likely to get pregnant, April." Eve laughed._

"_I know, but surely it has to help." AJ shrugged, "I'm getting kinda hot just thinking about it." She admitted as Eve looked at her._

"_Well please stop… thinking about it." Eve suggested, "What made it so good?" She asked, nevertheless taking interest._

"_I don't know, it was just… one of those unexpected nights. You know where there's barely any signals until you're just… there in the moment." AJ nodded, "And there's all different kinds of sex too-"_

"_Can I just say, I'm glad that your sex life didn't go out the window once you had a baby." Eve nodded._

"_Oh, it got better, I swear." AJ nodded. _

"_What are these… different kinds of sex?" Eve asked her._

"_Well there's the slow, kinda tired but sweet sex." AJ shrugged, "Usually just a missionary zone if you know what I mean." She said as Eve nodded, "Then there's the selfish sex-"_

"_Oh, what's that?" Eve leaned over the desk, resting her head on her hand curiously._

"_No kissing, no foreplay, not much eye contact… just… sex." AJ shrugged, "And then there's quick sex which is like… Kaia is about to wake up from her nap so we gotta be quick." She said._

"_I really just thought there was just sex. Nothing more to it." Eve shrugged._

"_No, it's like a vibe." AJ nodded, "And then there's the good sex." She smirked, "And I think that's what got me pregnant." She concluded._

"_What's so good about it? And different?" Eve questioned._

"_I don't know, it's just… when you're more into it, you got more time, you're in the moment… your legs are behind your head-"_

"_Ok, some things you just… you don't need to tell me." Eve assured her as AJ smiled._

"_I think I've got a bad case of horny right now." AJ sighed._

"_Yeah, I'd say so." Eve agreed, "Maybe you can figure that out later on. Some celebration sex… is that another type?"_

"_Oh, yeah it is." AJ said, "Birthdays, Valentines day, Christmas, anniversaries… yeah, they're pretty good too." She thought to herself as Eve just shook her head and chucked._

"_Well… congratulations on the news." Eve smiled, "I'm happy for you both."_

"_Thank you." AJ smiled._

* * *

"_Daddy, happy daddy day." Kaia smiled, sitting at the kitchen table later that night waiting for dinner. She was an extremely cute little thing and had really changed both of their lives for the better._

"_I think that's the twelfth time she's said that to me today." Punk whispered to AJ, "She's like ten second Tom from fifty first dates." He said as AJ slapped him on the stomach, "Thanks, baby." Punk turned around as Kaia smiled. _

"_Did you like my card?" She asked him. _

"_Oh, it was the best card I've ever had." Punk nodded._

"_And your breakfast?" Kaia wondered curiously._

"_Amazing." Punk said as Kaia smiled, happy with herself as AJ watched with a smile. She was the most adorable little angel. So gentle, caring and loving already, even at such a young age, "Do I get a special dad dinner too?" He wondered, looking over AJ's shoulder at the dinner they were having._

"_You get chicken pasta like the rest of us." AJ turned her head and smiled as he nodded._

"_Yeah, I figured." Punk nodded, walking over to the table and sitting Kaia's dinner down to her as she looked at it funny, "What?" Punk shook his head._

"_Don't think I like this." Kaia admitted as Punk and AJ sat down._

"_Yeah, you do. You had it last week and you told me you loved it." AJ said as Kaia folded her arms._

"_No, I don't think so." Kaia shook her head, unconvinced, looking at the pasta with disapproval._

"_She is ten second Tom." Punk nodded as AJ just smiled and shook her head, "Taste it, maybe you forgot how good it was." He told her. Of course having a three year old still came with many challenges, but every day was worth it._

"_Well ok." Kaia agreed, taking her fork and getting the tiniest bit of pasta._

_She definitely tested them, but getting to see her grow into this beautiful little person was so fun to watch._

"_You like it?" Punk asked her as Kaia took a few seconds to figure out if she did or not._

"_Yeah, it's ok." Kaia shrugged as AJ smirked to Punk and nodded. He did have to give his wife credit. She was super mom at everything and she was also what made being a father so fun and special._

"_So how was work?" AJ asked him whilst having dinner. Kaia played with her action figures whilst eating her dinner very slowly as she did, one pasta tube per minute practically._

"_The usual." Punk said, "Tony wasn't in so it was a little loose."_

"_Why wasn't he in?" AJ asked._

"_Father's day." Punk shrugged._

"_Oh, so he can have it off but when it was your first father's day he made you work until 9pm?" AJ raised a brow._

"_You still hate him for that, huh?" Punk smiled a little._

"_Yeah, I do." AJ nodded._

"_He's the boss. And I guess I respect my boss." Punk shrugged, "Plus, he's been good to me over the years with giving me days off."_

"_You're entitled to days off, Phil." AJ reminded him. _

"_I know but, if it's days that I should be working. I can't fault him." Punk said, "How was your day? Busy?" He asked her, watching as Kaia slid an action figure over to him. As a father, the greatest talent he'd developed was the talent of multi-tasking. He could eat dinner, chat with his wife and also play with an action figure, all at the same time._

"_Yeah for the most part. Slow morning but it picked up in the afternoon." AJ nodded, "I had a seven year old girl come in with the measles." She frowned, "Parents hadn't given her the first dose of shots." She shook her head._

"_That pisses me off." Punk said as AJ tapped his foot under the table, making him aware of his language, "It does." Punk shook his head._

"_I know, and as a nurse I can't… I can't start lecturing these people, you know? But… why wouldn't you take them for their shots?" AJ sighed, watching Punk play with Kaia with her little action figures, smiling to herself. He was such a good dad, thoughtful and sweet. She was so glad that her baby had a father like him. Her babies._

* * *

"_It's like it's my birthday or something." Punk said, breathing heavily as he lay in bed, running his hand through his hair whilst AJ collapsed on top of him in a sweaty heap._

"_Well it is dad day." AJ gasped, brushing her hair out of her face as she rested her head on his chest, "I can still appreciate you for everything you do for our baby." She smiled, looking up at him._

"_It's the best thing in the world." Punk smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him, a little tiredly and sloppy after steaming up the room for the past while, "When I was bathing her she asked me if it's just her daddy's special day." He said as AJ smiled._

"_She's the best." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded, finding his breath again as they both stayed peacefully still in each other's arms._

"_She is." Punk agreed, "It's those eyes she gives me. I'm turning into a melt these days." He shook his head as AJ smiled._

"_There's nothing wrong with that." AJ looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest as he looked down at her, "So I have some news for you." She smiled._

"_You have news for me?" Punk laughed a little, "What's the news?"_

"_I'm pregnant." She nodded as Punk raised his eyebrows, "Found out this morning."_

"_No way." Punk said with shock._

"_Yeah way." AJ smiled, "We're gonna have another baby." She nodded as Punk raised his eyebrows even further._

"_Oh my God." He sat up a little as AJ sat over beside him, "Oh my God." He whispered as she smiled and nodded._

"_Is this good oh my God's?" AJ smiled as Punk nodded._

"_You're gonna have another baby." He smiled happily, pulling her over on top of him again as she straddled his hips and played with his hair._

"_Yeah." AJ nodded, "Another one." She chuckled lightly, "You ready for that?"_

"_Are you?" Punk replied with a chuckle._

"_Yeah, I think so." AJ nodded, "We got this." She smiled._

"_Holy shit." Punk shook his head, in so much disbelief, but it was such an exciting feeling._

"_Appropriate day to tell you." AJ nodded, "Happy father's day." She shrugged as he laughed a little._

"_Yeah, no kidding." Punk laughed as she smiled. It was such a heart-warming feeling. There weren't the first time nerves like there were before with Kaia. They could really savour this moment and embrace the excitement, "I love you." He shook his head, cupping her cheeks._

"_I love you too." She smiled, leaning in and kissing him sweetly._


	37. Back Home

**Back Home**

* * *

"April?" Seth called as he walked into AJ and Punk's house.

"Kitchen." AJ called as Seth walked through the house and into the kitchen, "Hey." She smiled, giving her friend a hug.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked her. She'd cut herself off from everyone for the past few days. He assumed she was just trying to put all her focus onto Punk and blank out the horror that was Jack.

"Yeah, I'm ok." AJ smiled softly, "Good news."

"Yeah?" Seth waited.

"Phil is coming home tomorrow." AJ smiled.

"Really?" Seth raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Yeah, his doctor is so happy with how he's progressing. I mean, he's in a lot of pain with his chest but he's on his feet and he's… he's got more energy than he had before. I'm so glad he's coming home." AJ shook her head.

"That's great. I bet the girls will be stoked." Seth smiled, looking out the kitchen window where he saw Kaia and Marty running around playing with their ball, "Still at the soccer, huh?" He noticed.

"Yeah and you know they were watching some of the women's world cup earlier on before lunch." AJ nodded, "They were fascinated. So they told me they were doing their own world cup." She smiled.

"That's sweet." Seth smiled as AJ nodded, "You need help with anything for Phil coming home?"

"No, I should be fine." AJ nodded, "I'm going in tomorrow morning to pick him up. I'll need to see what his medication is like because knowing Phil, he'll try not to take it." She rolled her eyes, "But he can walk and he's… he's doing good, it's not like I have to carry him out or anything." She said as Seth laughed a little and nodded, "I'm just glad he can be home with us."

"Yeah, that's gotta be a weight lifted off your shoulders." Seth said as AJ nodded.

"It really is." AJ nodded, "You wanna stay for dinner?" She asked him as Seth looked over at her. He could see she had no desire to ask about Jack and what was going on. It really was like she was shutting it all out, and he didn't blame her.

"No, I'm good. I won't stay long." Seth said, "I just… I wanted to talk to you about my dad." He nodded.

"What about him?" AJ asked.

"I talked to my mom about taking him back into her life and… she didn't listen." Seth said, "We had a fight and she's moving back into her house." Seth nodded, "And I have a funny feeling that my dad is gonna be welcome there." He said.

"I don't know what else we can possibly say to your mom." AJ said, "She wants to believe he's changed, and he's good now, and bless her heart for that but… you and I both know he hasn't. She's… she's in danger every second she spends with him."

"I know that." Seth said, "We can get the restraining order for us but she's not gonna go along with it." He said, "We can't just do nothing."

"She's just so brainwashed by him. Like she can't say no. Wouldn't you want to defend yourself after everything he did?" AJ shook her head, "Surely she knows that it's not love."

"I don't know. I can't get through to her." Seth shook his head, "He's just got her in a hold."

"Well she didn't listen to me." AJ said, "And he's already worming his way back into her life, into her house. Doesn't help that she's vulnerable right now with her illness." She shook her head.

"Maybe Phil could get through to her. She does listen to him." Seth nodded.

"Not all the time. And honestly, I don't want Phil around this. He's trying to get better, and what could he possibly say to your mom that we haven't already said?" AJ said.

"Well I don't know what to do, April. I don't want my mom to get hurt. I don't want this guy around any of us." He shook his head.

"And I don't either." AJ said, "This is what I tried preventing. This is what I didn't want to happen-"

"Well it's happening." Seth said, "What do we do?" He questioned helplessly as AJ looked at him.

"Mommy… I cut my knee." Marty strolled into the kitchen from the garden, showing her mother her grazed knee.

"Well that's what happens when you wanna wear jorts." Seth hummed.

"It's Summer, uncle Seth." Marty told him as AJ lifted her up onto the kitchen counter.

"It's not deep enough for a band-aid-"

"But I want one." Marty said as AJ smiled and took the first aid kit down, "Just a little one to make it all better." She nodded to AJ.

"Alright then." AJ nodded, getting out some wipes to clean Marty's knee.

"Kaia took me down. She always has to win." Marty explained.

"Sounds like someone we know." Seth nodded.

"Who?" Marty looked at him.

"Your dad." Seth said.

"No, my daddy would never graze my knee." Marty said firmly as AJ smiled.

"Well he'd graze mine." Seth put his hands up, "You excited that he's coming home tomorrow?"

"Yes." Marty nodded, "Mommy says we still have to take care of him because he's still a little sick." She told Seth whilst AJ put a band-aid on Marty's leg.

"Yeah, you will. Gotta keep him company and bake him some cookies." Seth nodded.

"Oh, yeah." Marty nodded, "Mommy I don't think I want the band-aid on." Marty looked down.

"You just said-"

"But now I don't want it. Can you take it off please?" She asked her as Seth laughed a little.

"Ok." AJ nodded, taking the band-aid off.

"Now I need to go play some more." She told AJ who lifted her down from the counter, watching as she ran away out of the kitchen and back into the kitchen.

"She's a chatterbox." Seth nodded.

"You should hear them during bath time. It's like a TV show." AJ nodded, putting the first aid kit away, turning to Seth and sighing, "I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do, Seth. We can't do anything if your mom is accepting him back into her life. I mean the fact that I've told her that the girls won't be coming anywhere near her house anymore and she just… she didn't even care… that hurts me and… I'm scared of the power that man has over her-"

"Yeah and we gotta do something about it." Seth said.

"What do we do?" AJ asked, "We can't lock her up and keep him away."

"I know." Seth sighed, "She's just a completely different person around him. I don't get it." He shook his head.

"Me neither." AJ said, "I'll… I'll talk to Phil tomorrow and see if he has any suggestions on how we can deal with this." She nodded.

"Yeah, ok." Seth nodded, "Well I'll come visit him anyway, tomorrow night or the next day."

"Ok." AJ nodded.

* * *

"Medicine time." AJ walked into the living room the next day with two pills and a bottle of water as Punk turned around and rolled his eyes, lying up on the couch with Marty watching a film.

"Do I have to?" Punk sighed, "I don't like pills."

"So you want to be in pain then?" AJ asked him, "Marty, tell your father to take his medicine." AJ nodded as Marty turned around.

"Daddy." Marty narrowed her eyes at him as Punk looked at her, "Take your medicine." She folded her arms as Punk smiled a little.

"Alright alright." Punk nodded, sitting up slowly and taking the pills and water from AJ. He was still in a lot of pain with his chest, but besides that was feeling relatively better every day. He felt so glad to be back in his own home again.

"Good daddy." Marty observed, watching Punk take the pills as AJ smiled.

"You two want some lunch?" AJ asked them.

"Yes, star shaped sandwiches." Marty nodded as AJ smiled, turning to Punk.

"You want your sandwiches cut into stars?" She asked him, brushing his messy hair back as he smiled.

"Yeah, why not." Punk smiled, "When do you need to go pick Kaia up?" He asked her. Kaia was at school and Punk was really missing his other baby's company.

"I'll leave at like two thirty." AJ nodded, "And I'll pick up something for dinner on the way home. Do you want anything from the store?" She asked him.

"Can I get one of those cake pop things?" Punk asked her as AJ smiled.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" She smiled.

"Getting shot in the chest and wheezing when I laugh? Of course I love it." Punk said sarcastically as AJ smiled, "If you mean… getting taken care of you and getting star shaped sandwiches? Yes." He nodded.

"Can I have a cake pop too?" Marty asked.

"I'll see what I can find." AJ smiled.

"Daddy I wanna watch the girls play soccer." Marty huffed, no longer entertained by the movie.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"She's been watching the world cup. They both have actually." AJ nodded.

"Soccer?" Punk looked at AJ, "Really?"

"Apparently." AJ nodded, taking the remote and changing the channel over as Marty cheered, "It's like watching Ronaldo and Messi in the back garden." She teased as Punk chuckled.

"I'm sure it is." Punk nodded, looking over at Marty watching the soccer, smiling to himself.

"I'll start those sandwiches." AJ said, walking out of the living room as Punk got up and followed her.

He got up slowly from the couch and made his way into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" AJ shook her head.

"I know you've been deliberately not talking about my dad to avoid the conversation but… I'm home now and I mean… I gotta know what's going on?" Punk asked.

He knew something was going on with his father. He and AJ had done good at pretending there was nothing to discuss. They were blanking it out and focusing on them, on Punk coming home and the girls, but he couldn't sit in the dark for much longer.

"We can talk about it later." AJ shrugged, "You should go lie down." AJ nodded.

"Let's just talk about it now." Punk nodded, "What's going on? Where is my dad?" He questioned.

"He's with your mom." AJ nodded as Punk looked across at her. It was what he had feared the most, "She's gone back home and Seth thinks that she's gonna let him back in. He had a fight with her but… she wasn't listening." AJ shrugged, "It's all very well us getting the restraining order against him but if she's not in agreement with us, if she's letting him back into her life then… what can we really do?" AJ shook her head as Punk sighed, sitting down at the table slowly.

"Why is she so blind when it comes to him?" Punk asked, "I mean this is the last thing that she needs right now. I don't want to see her get hurt. She can't welcome that back into her life."

"I know." AJ nodded, "But Seth has tried getting through to her. I've tried." AJ said, "Maybe she'd listen to you."

"Do you really think she would?" Punk asked her.

"Truthfully, I don't know." AJ shook her head, "I don't. The whole situation sucks. I mean it's like he has this thing over her." She said, "I don't get it."

"I don't either." Punk sighed.

Now that he was home and he was feeling like himself again, despite all the pain he was still in, he couldn't ignore the fact that his mother was in serious danger with his father. He felt helpless to the situation because nothing they could say helped. The only reason his mother was able to move on with her life over the years was because Jack was in prison, far away from them.

"I think we should still file for the restraining order." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, definitely." Punk nodded.

"And I'm sorry but… I'm not having my kids around that man which means… Nadine is jeopardising her relationship with the girls. I won't be taking them to her house knowing that he might be there." AJ made clear, "I know it's your mom but… my kids, my decisions-"

"No, I'm with you on that." Punk agreed, "What was Seth saying?" He asked.

"He just looked pretty helpless. Doesn't know what to do or say to help her, make her see the light." AJ sad, "It just sucks."

"Yeah, it does." Punk nodded, "I can try and talk to her." He said, "But I don't know what good it will do."

"We gotta try everything." AJ said as Punk nodded, "I can text her to come over. Worth a shot."

"Yeah." Punk nodded, running his hand through his hair and sighing.

"We'll figure it out." AJ nodded, rubbing her hand on his back softly as he nodded.

"Hey where are my star sandwiches?" Marty walked into the kitchen, standing at the door with crossed arms.

"I'm just making them." AJ told her.

"Come on, let's go watch this soccer." Punk nodded to Marty, getting up slowly from the table.

"Daddy you're sick, be careful." Marty rushed over to him and took his hand as Punk smiled over to AJ.

"Two nurses better than one." AJ smiled as Punk nodded.

"Ok, let's go." Punk said, walking slowly into the living room with Marty helping him as AJ smiled.


	38. Dad Drama

**Dad Drama**

* * *

"Hey, why are you awake?" AJ shook her head, turning around in bed through the night, getting a glimpse beside her where she expected Punk to be fast asleep, only finding him wide awake lying on his back.

"I feel like my chest is being stomped on, repeatedly." Punk admitted. She knew he had to be in a lot of pain to admit it to her.

"Oh, baby." AJ sighed, sitting up and switching the light on by the bed, "Is there another way you can lie to help?" She asked, brushing her hand through his hair. She hated seeing him in any sort of pain or discomfort.

"No, this is pretty much the only way I can lie." He told her.

"Did you take your meds before bed?" She asked him as Punk looked at her and nodded slowly, "Phillip." AJ hissed, knowing he was lying immediately, "Gosh, it's like taking care of a literal child." She stomped out of bed as Punk groaned a little, watching her leave the room.

She disappeared for five minutes before re-entering the bedroom with water and his pills, as well as a sandwich for herself.

"I just don't like taking any sort of pills, ok?" Punk looked at her.

"When you are in this much pain, I'm not giving you the choice." AJ told him as he sighed, slowly sitting up in the bed, leaning against the headboard and passing him the pills with the water, "Just please, trust me. I'm literally a nurse. They're gonna help you." She nodded, sitting down on the bed with him.

"Is that sandwich for me?" He pointed as AJ turned to him.

"I made it for me." AJ said, "But we can share it." She shrugged, sitting the plate down between them.

"I've never felt pain like this." Punk admitted truthfully.

"Well your body went through a whole lot, Phil. Not many people get shot where you did and… get to come home after it." AJ said, "You're very lucky." She told him as he nodded.

"I'm sorry." He said as she turned to him with confusion.

"For what?" AJ asked.

"Well this was… this was your worst nightmare. From the get go, even before we had the girls, this was what you worried about… me getting hurt on the job." He said, "I should have been more careful-"

"This wasn't your fault, Phil." AJ shook her head, "You don't have to apologise to me." She said.

"I must have put you through so much worrying and stress-"

"You didn't put me through anything. This wasn't your fault. Yes I was… worried and stressed, and beside myself thinking about the what if… but that doesn't matter now because you're ok." She smiled, "And you can start getting better." She nodded.

"So you're not gonna ask me to quit?" Punk asked with a small smile as she scoffed.

"No." AJ turned to him, "I'd never ask you to quit your job. I know how much you love it." She said, "Do you remember any of it?" She asked him, sitting back against the headboard beside him.

"I remember going into the church and seeing Jensen, seeing him point his gun at Dean." Punk nodded, "Then it gets hazy." He said.

"You lost a lot of blood." AJ nodded, "You must have passed out pretty quickly." She said as Punk nodded, "I thought I was going out of my mind the first few days." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah, you told me about you beating on Jensen." Punk nodded slowly.

"He deserved that and more." AJ shrugged, "I had a go at Dean too." She shook her head.

"What about?" Punk asked.

"I was… basically saying it was his fault." AJ said, "I apologised, don't worry. I was so mad at myself for saying that to him. But I just wanted to be mad at someone and he was the only one there." AJ nodded, "He understood." She said as Punk nodded, "Me and him had a good conversation."

"Yeah?" Punk turned to her as she nodded.

"Told him about me… trying to take my own life." AJ nodded as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"You did?" He questioned.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I'm not gonna go around telling everyone now. I trust him not to say anything. We were just talking and his mom got brought up, I thought I could maybe give him some insight on what it feels like to be… suicidal." AJ shrugged.

"And how'd it go?" He asked her.

"I think I got through to him a little. Try to explain to him that… his mom didn't take her own life because she didn't want to be his mom anymore. She did it because… her mind was working against her. It's nothing to do with people or places. Certainly that can have impact but… it's all in the brain." AJ nodded, "I think he thought that he wasn't enough to keep his mom here."

"Yeah, I thought so." Punk nodded.

"But I think I managed to change his mind a little. Help him see a different side." AJ said, "He's been really good. Helped me with the girls and with Jack and the restraining order." AJ nodded.

"He's a good friend." Punk nodded. He wasn't shocked by Dean's actions because he knew what a good person he was.

"He is. You're very lucky." AJ made sure he knew, tapping his leg as Punk nodded, "Phil, you know what?" She said with a sigh.

"What?" Punk asked.

"I think we need a vacation." AJ thought to herself as Punk laughed a little.

"You think?" Punk asked as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, we totally do." AJ nodded, "Somewhere sunny. Peaceful and quiet." She said dreamily as Punk smiled.

"Sounds nice." Punk said, "Would be easier just escape from it all, right?" He said as AJ nodded.

"That'd be ideal." AJ nodded, "But I know we can't."

"Maybe I'll get through to my mom tomorrow when she comes over." He said hopefully.

"Hopefully." AJ sighed tiredly.

"Hey, just cause I'm awake doesn't mean you gotta stay up with me." He laughed a little, "You go back to sleep." He nodded.

"I can't sleep knowing you're in pain." AJ frowned, "My poor baby." She cupped his cheek whilst he ate the other half of her sandwich.

"I'll be fine. You go back to sleep." He assured her, "You still having those weird dreams where I disappear?" He asked her.

"No, actually. Last night I had a dream and you were… you were there the whole time." AJ smiled, "It was nice."

"Oh, yeah? Well tell me about it." Punk nodded.

* * *

"_Mom! I'm home!" Eighteen year old Kaia walked through the door to their house, throwing her backpack down, kicking her shoes off which both landed in two different places of the hallway, sprinting upstairs immediately as Punk and AJ stood in the kitchen._

"_Nice of her to come… say hi." AJ raised her eyebrows, standing in the kitchen with her husband._

"_What is she in such a rush for?" Punk scoffed._

"_She's either pissed Marty off or I don't know… she needs the toilet or something." AJ shrugged._

"_Kaia!" Marty yelled, rushing through the front door as AJ and Punk looked down the hall from the kitchen, "Where is that bitch?" She looked down at her mother and father who raised their eyebrows._

"_Martine." Punk scoffed at her use of language, "The word bitch gets used in this house way too much." He turned to AJ who shrugged, unbothered, "What's wrong?" Punk called down from the kitchen to Marty who was taking her jacket off, ignoring him and rushing upstairs._

"_It's like I'm invisible." Punk nodded to himself, both of them listening to the squabbling coming from upstairs between their daughter's, "What is wrong with the both of them? Can't they go one day without fighting each other?"_

"_It's just a phase." AJ waved her hand, both of them listening to a loud thud coming from upstairs as Punk shook his head._

"_I suppose I better make sure they don't literally kill one another." He shook his head, walking out of the kitchen and heading upstairs, groaning as he began to hear the shrieking coming from the girls that only cats could hear._

"_I told you to keep that a secret!" Marty yelled, standing in Kaia's room where Kaia was lying on her bed, "Now Joana isn't talking to me. Thanks."_

"_Shouldn't have told me your best friends secrets then." Kaia shrugged._

"_No, you just shouldn't have told anyone. You know how fast rumours spread-"_

"_Not a rumour. She did kiss him, didn't she?" Kaia shrugged, "Why are you even friends with her? She's a bully."_

"_No she isn't." Marty rolled her eyes._

"_She literally kissed someone elses boyfriend for fun… she's a trash human being and you're gonna end up like her." Kaia nodded._

"_No one else was supposed to know that. You're a bitch for telling everyone. She's gonna wanna fight you." Marty folded her arms._

"_Oh, I'd like to see her try. Her arms are like twigs. I could take her." Kaia nodded._

"_Yeah, right." Marty scoffed, "You cried when dad accidentally stood on your foot the other day-"_

"_Because it hurt." Kaia shrugged, "Can you just get out of my room please? You're bringing all this negative energy, I don't like it." She waved her hand as Marty grabbed her by the ankles, "Marty!" Kaia shrieked as Marty pulled her off onto the floor._

_Marty immediately ran away out of her sister's room as Kaia got up and ran after her, both of them running by Punk who had got to the top of the stairs, shaking his head with confusion._

"_I'm gonna kill you." Kaia shrieked, chasing after Marty into her room, grabbing her by the hair._

"_Let go let go." Marty pleaded, trying to push Kaia away._

"_Ok, that's enough!" Punk yelled, walking into Marty's bedroom, "Let go of your sister." He told Kaia who pushed Marty over, immediately hiding behind Punk so Marty couldn't get to her, sticking her head out from behind Punk and smiling._

"_You're such a bitch." Marty pointed as Kaia stuck her middle finger up from behind Punk who turned around and caught her._

"_What the hell is going on?" He looked at both of them, "I swear the worst thing to happen to you two was going to high school." He rolled his eyes._

"_I told her gossip and she went and told everyone and now the whole school knows and my best friend hates me!" Marty yelled._

"_Ok, don't yell it, I'm here." Punk massaged his ear, "What was the gossip?" He asked curiously._

"_Her best friend, Joana, kissed another boy who is dating a girl I know, so I had to tell her but… it got spread around the school." Kaia shrugged, "It's not my fault she's friends with trash girls."_

"_Joana isn't trash." Marty said._

"_Who is Joana again?" Punk wondered, trying to remember all of his daughter's friends was a tough job._

"_The one that dresses like a prostitute." Kaia told him._

"_She doesn't." Marty gasped._

"_The one who threw up on me when you guys were ten?" Punk asked._

"_Yeah." Marty nodded._

"_Yeah, she's trouble." Punk agreed._

"_See." Kaia chuckled, "Ah ha!" She pointed to Marty._

"_But you shouldn't have told everyone." He turned to Kaia whose smile dropped._

"_What? How is this my fault?" Kaia shook her head._

"_Ah ha!" Marty pointed to Kaia with a smirk._

"_Well if your sister tells you things in confidence, you shouldn't go about telling everyone." Punk shrugged._

"_Exactly." Marty added in._

"_Oh, so you're gonna side with Marty and trash Joana?" Kaia asked Punk._

"_Don't call her that." Punk rolled his eyes, "They're young, give them a break." Punk shook his head._

"_Yeah? Well Marty was drunk two weeks ago." Kaia pointed to Marty._

"_Kaia!" Marty shrieked as Kaia smirked and shrugged._

"_You what?" Punk turned to Marty who looked nervously at him._

"_Yeah well Kaia is having sex with someone in college!" Marty pointed to Kaia who gasped and covered her hand over her mouth._

"_What?!" Punk shrieked, turning to Kaia who gulped just as AJ walked into the room._

"_And mom knows!" Marty pointed to AJ as Punk turned to AJ who immediately began to back out of the room._

"_I think I left the oven on." AJ called as she ran back downstairs._

"_Yeah well…" Kaia thought to herself, "I saw Marty at the smoking corner outside school." She nodded as Marty's eyes widened whilst Punk looked from Kaia to Marty._

"_Well Kaia crashed your car because she was on her phone, not because a deer ran out in front of her like she told everyone." Marty scoffed as Kaia groaned._

"_Marty was the one prank calling you at work last year!" Kaia yelled._

"_Kaia was arrested for public indecency and Uncle Dean covered it up for her!" Marty yelled louder as Punk sat down on the bed, placing his hand on his forehead, feeling light headed._

"_Marty started a food fight at school and hit one of the disabled kids!" Kaia yelled as Punk placed his hands over his face._

"_That was an accident!" Marty defended, "Kaia emails the homework she gets to a weird person on the computer and they do all her homework for her!" Marty yelled._

"_I send him yours too you little witch." Kaia scoffed as Marty shrugged, "Marty broke the TV last month playing the wii and got Uncle Seth to replace it." She said._

"_The control slipped out of my hand. That was another accident." Marty defended, "Kaia posts pictures on Instagram with her rack out."_

"_Oh, please. What rack?" She looked down at her chest whilst Punk collapsed back on the bed._

"_Yeah, actually… how do you do that? Do you have like a special bra or something?" Marty asked curiously._

"_No, it's all about the angle really. I'll show you later." Kaia waved her hand, "Marty watches porn!" She pointed after thinking some more, "Ah ha."_

"_What the hell is wrong with porn?" Marty shrugged, "Kaia skips school every Friday and calls in pretending to be mom telling the office that she's sick." She said._

"_Marty was the one who smashed the living room window, not a stranger." Kaia pointed._

"_There was a bee chasing me!" Marty defended, "Kaia got a tattoo on her ass that says no entry in Spanish!" She yelled._

"_Marty has a tattoo on her hip… and mom knows about it!" Kaia yelled._

"_Yeah, a paw print." Marty scoffed, "Not dick directions." She shook her head as Punk stood up from the bed._

"_Hey, where are you going?" Kaia questioned, "I can… I can think of some more-"_

"_I'm moving house." Punk told them in a daze as they watched him slowly walk out of the room, "I no longer claim you both as my children." He told them both, closing the bedroom door over and shaking his head as AJ walked back upstairs._

"_Don't be mad." AJ paused as Punk looked at her whilst the girls opened the bedroom door to watch, "It was… it was girl things." She shrugged as Punk put his hands on hips._

"_Mom dyed all your clothes pink deliberately because she was fed up of your fighting." Punk exposed, telling the girls as AJ gasped._

"_Phil." AJ hissed._

"_Mom." Kaia frowned, "Why would you do that?"_

"_Uh… dad takes selfies in work and sends me them!" AJ pointed._

"_Just of the face I hope." Marty folded her arms._

"_Mom wanted Marty to be a boy." Punk turned to the girls as Marty gasped._

"_Dad slept with all of Chicago before getting with me!" AJ yelled._

"_Yeah, we knew that." Kaia shrugged as Marty nodded._

"_Ah ha." Punk pointed to AJ, "Wait, what?" He turned to the girls._

"_We have friends, whose mom's you've slept with." Kaia nodded, "So thanks for that." She nodded sarcastically._

"_I'm packing my bags." Punk scoffed, walking away into he and AJ's bedroom as AJ smiled, turning to the girls and smiling, giving them both high fives, "Stop high fiving!" Punk yelled from the room as they laughed._


	39. Choice

**Choice**

* * *

"Daddy we made you your favourite breakfast." Kaia ran out of the kitchen, taking Punks hand as he got down the stairs. He thought it was sweet that they insisted to guide him around the house like he didn't have legs anymore. He was touched by how much his little angels could care and be kind.

"You did?" Punk smiled down to her, walking through to the kitchen where AJ was sitting with Marty at the table, "Oh, what's this?" He asked. It sure smelt incredible. His wife truly was the master of breakfast.

"It's all your favourite things." Marty threw her hands up in the air, "Pancakes and… and bacon. Sausage. Toast. And some siril-"

"Some what?" Punk smiled a little, turning to AJ who smiled. Marty struggled pronouncing certain words. She was only three and still learning, it didn't stop her from being a chatterbox though.

"Siril. Look, Cap n crunch." She pointed.

"It's cereal, Marty." Kaia said with frustration, "Cereal."

"That's what I said." Marty said with confusion.

"Hey, it all looks so good. Thanks guys." Punk smiled, leaning down and kissing Kaia, walking over to the table and kissing his wife and Marty, "So am I just gonna get really fat whilst I'm off work then?" He questioned, sitting down at the table as AJ laughed a little.

"That's the plan." AJ nodded, "Here, pills." She pushed them over as Punk nodded, giving into the medication as it really did help him.

"Daddy is that your magic medicine?" Kaia asked whilst sitting eating her toast and bacon whilst Marty was struggling to cut up her sausage, passing it to AJ for her to do it.

"Yeah, this makes me feel a little better." Punk nodded, taking the pills as Kaia watched.

"Pancakes make me feel better." Kaia told him as Punk smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, they help out too." He smiled, "So you both made all of this by yourself?" He asked them as Kaia and Marty looked at one another. They didn't want to admit that their mother had helped them.

"Well mommy helped but just a little bit." Marty explained.

"It's true, they did all the hard work." AJ nodded.

"Well thanks guy." Punk smiled, "Hey maybe you'll both be chefs when you're older." Punk nodded.

"No, actually." Marty said immediately, "I want to do soccer when I'm old like the girls on TV." She nodded.

"Obsessed." AJ whispered to Punk who nodded.

"You do?" Punk nodded, "Well that'd be fun." He said as Marty nodded.

"Mhm and I'd be rich because it's on TV." Marty concluded as Punk laughed a little.

"Not everyone on TV is rich, babe." Punk assured her.

"A little rich." Marty nodded.

"I want to do what mommy does but for animals." Kaia smiled sweetly.

"A vet?" AJ asked, "That'd be nice. I wanted to be a vet at one point too. But I opted humans instead of animals." She shrugged.

"Sounds like we're gonna have some rich ass kids." Punk nodded to AJ who smiled, "You girls go be whatever you wanna be." He nodded, "As long as it's not hurting anyone."

"I got a text from your mom earlier." AJ said, "She's coming over just after lunch. I made it very clear that you wanted her to come over on her own." She nodded.

"Oh, if she shows up with my dad, neither of them are coming in." Punk shrugged, "Simple as that."

"I highly doubt she will." AJ said, "What are you gonna say to her?" She wondered.

"Everything I can." Punk said, "Just put it all out there, be blunt." He nodded, "I don't wanna hurt her or say anything mean but… I gotta tell the truth and the truth is… him being back here, in her life, is just putting her own life in danger. And she's going through enough as it is." Punk shook his head.

"Do you think she'll listen?" AJ asked.

"Honestly I don't know. If she hasn't listened to you or Seth, I don't see why I would make the difference." Punk shrugged, "Worth a shot, though."

"It's like he just has this thing over her. It's just so hard to understand why she isn't repulsed by him. What has he got over her?" AJ shook her head.

"You think he's got something over her?" Punk asked her as AJ shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know. I just don't understand the whole thing." AJ admitted, "It's like I wanna just shake her and tell her to wake up."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Punk nodded, thinking to himself, "You think he has something over her?" He thought more about it.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe he's just good at manipulating her." AJ said, "But I don't care, anyone who has hurt me like she was hurt by him, would never be allowed back in my life. I don't care if I loved them or if I had kids with them." AJ said, "It just wouldn't happen. That's why I don't understand."

"Yeah, I know." Punk sighed, turning to Kaia and Marty who were annoying one another by picking at each other's plates.

"Stop it, Marty!" Kaia yelled.

"You stop it!" Marty yelled back louder.

"Hey, this is just like that dream you told me about it." Punk nodded to AJ who laughed a little.

"Girls, come on, that's enough." AJ nodded to them both as they turned away from each other as Punk chuckled to himself.

* * *

Later that day, Nadine had come around to the house whilst AJ had taken the girls out to the store. Punk wasn't really sure what he could say to his mother to help her see the light. He was sure anything he said would have already been covered by Seth or AJ, but he wasn't going to give up before trying.

"How have you been feeling?" Nadine asked, walking through to the kitchen as Punk followed slowly behind.

"I've felt better. Having some trouble sleeping." Punk nodded, "What about you?" He questioned.

"I'm doing ok." Nadine nodded, "Back on my feet like normal. I have my scan next week just for them to see how things are looking. So… hopefully it goes well."

"Yeah, hopefully." Punk nodded, taking a seat at the table as Nadine joined him, "Look, you're not dumb, you know why I asked you to come here." He said as Nadine nodded slowly, "And you know what? It's only because we're all so concerned. Concerned about you letting dad back into your life. I mean.. can't you just see the dangers of it-"

"I can't keep having these conversations with everyone." Nadine sighed, "Your father is different now-"

"He punched Seth a couple days ago. He came into the hospital to see me and cut the connection to the oxygen for me." He said, "He is not different and you know it. Why would you want to be with someone who… who hurt you so bad, who hurt your son-"

"Because I believe everyone deserves a second chance, Phil." Nadine said immediately.

"Second? This is his second chance? Cause you kicked him out of the house a lot and he always came back, he always got a second chance." Punk reminded her, "Aren't you scared of him?"

"No. No, I'm not. He did a lot of thinking in prison. He's changed his ways." Nadine said.

"You're stupid if you believe that. Men like him don't change. They just get smarter at manipulating people." Punk said, "I don't want him to hurt you, mom. And I'm… I'm in no condition to fight him. And I… I shouldn't have to be." Punk sighed.

"No one will be fighting. It's going to be different this time, Phil. I know it. Your father has been so good these past few days-"

"Bullshit." Punk shrugged.

"Phillip." Nadine looked at him.

"Well it is." Punk said, "I feel like I'm seven again, just waiting for him to blow up at one point." He said, "Bringing him back into your life automatically means you're bringing him into my life and… and I'm sorry but I won't have that man anywhere near me or my family. So you're risking your relationship with your grandchildren here." Punk made clear.

"You'd really do that?" Nadine asked, "You'd stop me seeing my granddaughters if I continued to see your father?" She questioned.

"Yeah. I would." Punk said, "Because their safety means so much to me and I won't risk anything by having them around that man." He said as Nadine looked across at him sadly.

"So you would have no problem taking them away from me?" Nadine asked.

"Of course I would have a problem. I'd hate for it to come to that, mom. I don't want it to come to that, but if you really choose this man, this evil, vicious man over your sons, your family who have been there for you all this time… then I… I don't think I can understand what's going on in your mind." Punk shook his head.

"Why can't you just give him a chance? He's really different. He's changed. Prison has taught him things. He's not that violent, angry person anymore-"

"Yeah, that's what he tells you until he snaps." Punk said, "I'm not giving that man anything. Not a chance, not my time… I want nothing to do with him. You're gonna get yourself hurt." Punk shook his head.

"Phil, I'm going to be just fine." Nadine said, "Don't worry so much-"

"What do you expect? The man who abused us and tortured us for years has come back and is living with you… don't tell me not to worry. You're the one making me worry." Punk said, "We could file for the restraining order and be done with it." He said.

"You're getting a restraining order against him?" Nadine asked.

"Yeah. I am." Punk said, "Because I don't trust him one bit." He said as Nadine looked across at him, "And you shouldn't either."

"You're really going to make me choose, aren't you?" Nadine asked.

"You know what's sad, mom?" Punk asked her with disappointment, "It's the easiest decision in the world." He nodded, "And if we mean less to you than this man who you haven't seen in twenty plus years, this man who beat you, cheated on you, almost killed you… if we all mean less to you… me, Seth, April, my children… then go ahead." Punk nodded, "Go be with dad. But seven year old me isn't gonna be around to call the cops when he leaves you for dead." Punk reminded her as Nadine looked across at him.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Phil." Nadine shook her head, "If you just saw your father, spoke to him, you'd see he's different-"

"I don't want to and I don't care." Punk said, "I care about the people who have been there for me. He hasn't. In fact, all he ever really did was scare me and make me feel like shit." Punk nodded, "So no, I don't want to hear his explanations." He said as Nadine nodded slowly, "Why is this such a hard decision for you? Why can't you see why this is so wrong?" He asked. He was genuinely puzzled by his mother's decisions, "Does he have something over you?"

"What do you mean?" Nadine questioned.

"Well is he… is he threatening you with something? Does he know something that we don't… like, what's the deal?" Punk asked as Nadine shook her head, getting a little flustered.

"No, I just… I just thought I'd be the bigger person and give him the chance." Nadine said as Punk nodded slowly.

"Well you do that then." Punk shrugged, "But don't say that we never tried to help you."

"Phil-"

"No, you can go." Punk shrugged. Of course it hurt to see his mother choose her abusive ex over her own children, over the people who had been there for her the most. It just didn't make sense.

"It doesn't have to be like this." Nadine shook her head.

"No, you're right. It doesn't." Punk nodded, "But you're making it like this." He shrugged, "And I have nothing else to say to you." He told her as she looked across at him, standing up from the table.

"I'll… I'll see myself out." Nadine said quietly as Punk nodded, watching her leave the kitchen and leave the house as he ran his hands over his face and sighed.


	40. Calm In The Storm

**Calm In The Storm**

* * *

"Daddy, daddy… I got new chucks!" Kaia exclaimed, running through the door and into the living room, "Oh." She paused, looking over at her father sleeping on the couch, frowning a little. She was desperate to tell him all about her shopping trip with her mother and sister.

"Daddy's sleeping." Kaia turned to her sister as Marty ran into the living room, running over to Punk and looking at him closely. She poked his forehead and cheeks as Punk opened up his eyes.

"Hi daddy!" Marty cheered, her face so close to Punk's that he got a fright.

"Woah…" Punk laughed a little as AJ walked into the living room with some bags.

"Girls, did you wake daddy?" She asked.

"No." Marty answered.

"Marty did." Kaia nodded.

"How did shopping go?" Punk asked them, sitting up slowly on the couch as AJ watched, noticing he seemed to be in pain.

"Hey, you ok?" AJ asked worriedly as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, just a little stiff." Punk sighed, sitting up on the couch properly, "So how'd shopping go? Did mommy buy you nice things?" He asked as the girls nodded.

"I got a new game for my switch and… and new chucks." Kaia told him.

"I got new chucks too." Marty nodded, "Mommy, help me show daddy what else I got." She said, tugging on AJ's leg and whispering to her as Punk watched.

"Oh, yeah." AJ nodded, "We'll be back in a minute." She said, leaving the living room with Marty and the bags as Punk shook his head with confusion.

"You know what's going on?" Punk asked Kaia who sat up beside him, showing her the new chucks she'd got, "Oh, they're cute. Nothing like a fresh pair, huh?" He took a look at them.

"They're red, my favourite colour." Kaia smiled, "And I got another pokemon game for my switch too."

"How lucky are you?" Punk nodded. It was nice that they were fortunate enough to spend money on the girls and treat them to new things every now and then. They were in a financially stable position to do so and their girls were always so humble with the smallest of gifts.

"I'm so happy, I want to wear them every day." Kaia smiled, stroking her new converse happily as Punk smiled.

"Ok, are you ready?" AJ walked back into the living room.

"I swear if you've bought her a rabbit or something-"

"It's not an animal." AJ laughed, "Ok, come on." AJ nodded to Marty who walked back into the living room as Punk chuckled and clapped immediately with joy.

"Now that's my kid." Punk nodded proudly as Marty appeared to be wearing a classic bandana whilst throwing up the rock and roll sign. The best part was that she looked adorable in it.

"I remember you always wore them." AJ smiled, "I saw it in a shop and she loved it." AJ nodded to him.

"Does it look good, daddy?" Marty asked him, adjusting her bandana. As soon as her mother let her put it on in the shop, she'd fallen in love with the headwear. AJ thought it was extremely cute.

"You look amazing." Punk said, "Why didn't you get one?" He turned to Kaia who shrugged.

"It looks stupid." Kaia concluded bluntly as Punk laughed a little.

"No, it's cool." Marty nodded, continuously throwing up the rock and roll sign as Punk smiled.

"I gotta see if I've still got mine." Punk nodded as AJ smiled, "You're rocking it better than I ever did." Punk said as Marty smiled, happy with herself.

"Why don't you girls go put the bags upstairs." She nodded to them as they quickly left the living room, dragging their bags with them as they raced upstairs, "I thought you'd like that." She smiled to herself.

"Fucking love it." Punk said. If there was anything that could cheer it up, it was always his wife and daughter's, "My little Punkers." He smiled.

"She's got a black, a white and a blue one." AJ smiled, sitting down beside him on the couch, "How long were you napping for?" She asked.

"Uh… must have been an hour or something." He looked at the clock as AJ nodded, "Did you have fun shopping?" He smiled.

"Yeah, actually." AJ nodded, "They're so good. Like I see parents out with their kids and… and the kids are screaming, or they're running off or… throwing a tantrum in the middle of the stores." AJ said, "Our girls are little unbothered punkers."

"Only me and you could produce such magnificent creations." Punk nodded.

"Yeah, that's true." AJ agreed with a smile, "So how did it go with your mom?" She asked him curiously.

"Honestly? Not good." Punk said as AJ nodded slowly, "I basically laid it all down for her and I said it's… it's all of us or it's him." He nodded, "And.. well, she didn't choose us." He shrugged as AJ leaned her head on his arm and took a hold of his hand, "I just don't get it." He admitted.

"Me neither." AJ sighed sadly. Going by how Nadine had been acting, she had a feeling this was what would happen, and it sucked.

"How can she choose him over us? Someone who… who hurt her so bad? And how can I be ok with them living together again? I'm just waiting on a phone call telling me that my mom is in hospital and then… then I'll start asking myself what else I could have done to help-"

"Phil, not everything is your fault. You can't… you can't always blame yourself. We've all spoken to your mom and tried to… make her see sense but it's just, it's pointless." AJ sighed.

"I just don't get it." Punk shook his head, "We're the ones who have been here for her. What is it with him? What does he say to her that makes her believe him so much?" He said, "It's like he hypnotizes her." He said stressfully as AJ looked up at him.

"I know… I know it sucks and… we're fighting a battle here but what else can we really do?" AJ sighed.

"I can't turn my back on my mom." Punk sighed, rolling his head back on the couch, "But I can't have that man in my life. I just wish she'd open her damn eyes."

"It's just so strange." AJ shook her head, "What if he does have something over her?"

"Give me an example." Punk nodded as AJ sighed to herself, not being able to think of much.

"I guess I don't know." AJ shrugged, "It just seems so forced with her. It's like she knows he's bad for her but can't say it out loud." She said as Punk nodded.

"So what do we do?" Punk asked, "My mom is battling cancer for Christ sake… I don't wanna cut off a relationship with her just because of that man."

"She's the one choosing against us, Phil." AJ said, "I mean what else are we supposed to do?" She shrugged, "We go along with the restraining order so he stays away." She said as Punk nodded.

"It's just shit, isn't it?" He said as she nodded.

"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry this can't be easier on you." She said, looking up at him, cupping the back of his head and playing with the bottom of his hair.

"At the end of the day, I just don't want to see my mom get hurt, and I feel like I just can't do anything or say anything that will help." He said as AJ nodded.

"Maybe she'll… she'll realise what a huge mistake she's making and see sense somehow." AJ shrugged, "You just gotta focus on you right now, get yourself better and stronger." She said as Punk nodded.

"Those pain meds really do help." Punk nodded to her.

"Imagine that?" AJ smiled sarcastically as he nodded, "You'll sleep better if you take them so remember and take them before you go to bed." She tapped his shoulder as AJ nodded, "I'm gonna make a start on dinner. You good?" She asked him.

"I'm ok." He shrugged unenthusiastically as AJ looked at him, "I got so mad at you for trying to prevent this exact situation." He realised as AJ looked down, "I feel like an ass."

"You were just scared for me and you didn't like me coming into contact with your dad… I understood that." AJ shrugged, "It's very obvious now that your dad just… does what he wants, doesn't matter if you talk to him nicely, if you ask him to disappear in a kind manner… he doesn't care."

"Yeah, that's him in a nutshell." Punk nodded.

"Things will get better. I don't know when or how but… they will." She cupped his cheek as he nodded, "I love you." She smiled, kissing him sweetly as he kissed back before she left the living room to go start dinner in the kitchen.

It wasn't long before the girls joined him in the living room again. Marty was still rocking her new bandana whilst Kaia was showing him her new game on her switch.

"Am I rock star now?" Marty wondered, continuing to throw the rock and roll sign up every now and then which was making Punk smile for sure.

"Yeah, you're my little rock star." Punk nodded, "Hey, you two could start a band or something." He suggested.

"I don't wanna be in a band with her." Kaia scoffed as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"Hey." Marty scolded, "I'll be in a band on my own." She said as Punk laughed a little.

"That's not… that's not really how bands work." Punk told her.

"Oh." Marty frowned, "Uncle Dean can be in my band then." She shrugged, "Daddy can I do your hair?" She asked as Punk nodded.

"Sure." Punk nodded as she climbed up onto the couch, sitting on the back behind him whilst Punk helped Kaia with her game, "Get that one, get that one." Punk pointed as Kaia leaned into him with her game, getting his help every now and then whilst Marty brushed his hair and began putting it in a band.

"I got it." Kaia smiled triumphantly, "Look, he's spinning." She showed her father as Punk nodded, "Now there's… there's more islands." Kaia said as he looked on and nodded.

"Braids or bunches, daddy?" Marty asked.

"Bunches please." Punk answered as Marty nodded.

Meanwhile AJ had come back into the living room to ask Punk something about dinner, pausing at the door when she saw the girls close to him, Kaia playing her game with him and Marty doing his hair. She felt so lucky to have him home and have him healthy and on the right track, because she knew for a long time he was in a dangerous area in hospital.

She just wished that everything going on with his mother and father would come to an end, because she knew that it was getting to him, even if he had his own personal hairdresser and therapists to help him through.

"Garlic bread?" AJ wondered with a smile.

"Yes please." Marty answered as Punk and Kaia nodded, too involved in the game to look up.

"Good job, Mart." AJ smiled, "You want some ribbon in?"

"Oh, yeah." Marty nodded excitedly as AJ smiled


	41. Crisis

**Crisis**

* * *

"Things are looking good, Phil." George, Punk's consultant who did surgery on him spoke as they sat in the hospital office. Punk had returned to the hospital after two weeks of being released to get a further scan to see how things were doing with his recovery.

"It's been really inflamed the past few days." AJ nodded to him, "Around this area." She pointed to Punk's chest, "Right where his scar is actually." She said.

"That's normal. As you get more mobility in you, it'll get a little inflamed from time to time since you're moving more. That's what the pain meds are for." George nodded, "So this was your sternum just after surgery." He showed Punk the x-ray of the shattered chest bone.

"Nice." Punk nodded sarcastically.

"And this is it now." George showed the x-ray from earlier on in the day.

"Oh, wow." Punk noticed a drastic change.

"That looks real good." AJ nodded with surprise. Being a nurse, she noticed just how good the improvement was.

"Obviously you have April at home with you so… I'm sure she keeps you right." George nodded as AJ smiled, "But just keep doing what you're doing. Plenty of rest, let it heal, no heavy lifting or any ridiculous things like that-"

"What about work?" Punk asked as AJ turned to him.

"Work?" George questioned.

"Mhm." Punk nodded.

"Well… you're a cop… I wouldn't advise making a comeback any time soon." George said truthfully.

"How long do you reckon I'll be out?" Punk wondered as AJ looked at him a little angrily. She didn't think work had to be a concern for him right now.

"I'd say a couple months." George nodded.

"So two months?" Punk nodded.

"Let's just see how things go." George said, "Things are looking good but your sternum is still broken. It's not like we can put a cast on it or give you crutches. Time will heal." He nodded, "You still been having numbness in your hands?" He asked, looking down at the files.

"Uh yeah… a little." Punk nodded, "I was told that was to do with the… the blood vessels or something. Well, April told me." He said.

"Yeah, that will be coming from the top of your spine. Your whole upper body took quite the hit." George nodded, "Again something that will stop over time."

"I told him that." AJ smiled.

"How about your head? Have you been sick at all? Any dizziness?" George asked.

"I've not been sick but a little light headed sometimes." Punk nodded, "I was putting my daughter to sleep last night and when I leaned down to give her a kiss and lean back up I… I just felt a little woozy-"

"He almost fainted." AJ corrected, "No need to sugar coat it." She told Punk.

"Are you sleeping?" George asked curiously.

"Not really." Punk admitted, "Off and on."

"Overall your body is gonna be run down, so just bear with it. I've done the appropriate scans and tests to see how things are inside the body and… in your case, that's the most important and you're doing good. Just take it easy, keep your appetite up and keep taking the meds to get some sleep." George nodded.

"Yeah, ok." Punk nodded.

"Have you got any other questions for me?" George asked.

"No, I'm good." Punk nodded, "Thanks." He shook the doctor's hand before leaving the office with AJ.

They left the hospital and got back to their car in the parking lot. Punk slowly put his seat belt on, waiting for AJ to start the car when he noticed she was just sitting.

"You ok?" He asked her with confusion.

"Mhm." AJ came out of her daze and turned to him.

"What's wrong?" Punk asked, knowing that there was something on her mind.

"I just didn't expect you to be asking about work so soon." AJ admitted truthfully as Punk ran his hand through his hair.

"I was just curious." Punk shrugged, turning to her and watching as she gulped, "You know I gotta go back at one point, right? When I'm healed." He said.

"Well… yeah, but I just… I don't think it should be the top of your priorities." AJ said, "I mean that's where you got hurt in the first place."

"I know." Punk said, "I know you're worried about me going back. I am too. I'm scared." He told her honestly as she turned to him, "But… it's my job and I'll have to go back at one point." He nodded.

"Yeah, I know." AJ sighed, "I'm just… I worry, ok? I hate it, but I can't change it-"

"You care. That's ok." Punk nodded, "After what happened, I wouldn't expect you to be calm about it all. I'm not gonna get back out there next week or anything, I was just curious." He said as AJ nodded.

"I know. I just don't want you worrying about work. Just focus on you and getting better." She said, placing her hand on his leg as he nodded, "Especially when things are going so well." She smiled.

"Yeah. I'm surprised, I didn't think I'd be healing this good." He admitted as AJ nodded, looking down, "Is there something else on your mind?" He wondered as she looked up, "I know that with everything going on with my mom and dad… it's not been the best atmosphere. Mom has practically jumped off the face of the earth. Seth isn't in contact-"

"I'm just worried." AJ shrugged, "About your mom. I feel like we can't do nothing." She admitted, "What if something happens to her?"

"I can talk to Dean and see if… if there's anyway we can set the restraining order up and include my mom in it, without her consent." He said, "I'm a little surprised he's stayed away. I… I had been preparing for him to come knocking." He admitted.

"Honestly me too." AJ nodded, "Which worries me." She rolled her eyes, "What's he up to?"

"Don't worry." Punk sighed, taking her hand in his, "I know that you can't help it but… we'll figure this out-"

"We can't just say that and not do anything." AJ said with stress, running her hand through her hair as Punk watched her.

"Are you sure there's nothing else bothering you?" Punk asked her. He was her husband, he knew different signs, he knew her.

"No, it's really just this." AJ assured him, "I'm so exhausted of lying awake at night and worrying about if your mom is safe and if… if he's with her, if he's hurting her-"

"Yeah, I am too." Punk said, "And yeah it sucks but I can't go kidnap her and I can't go fight my dad either." He said, "I'll look into the restraining order thing and see if we can just… find a way to keep my dad away from all of us, mom included." He said as AJ nodded, "Ok?" He rubbed her leg softly.

"Yeah." AJ took a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm sorry." She shook her head.

"No, you're fine. Talk to me." He assured her as she nodded and smiled softly.

"We better get going. The girls will be driving Dean crazy." She said, starting up the car.

* * *

"They're both down." Punk said, later that night as he appeared in the kitchen, looking on at AJ who had what appeared to be bills and what they referred to as adult paper work out on the kitchen table, "What are you doing?" He laughed a little.

"Look how much we've ran up that credit card." AJ showed him worriedly as Punk took a seat across from her, "And our electricity bill has gone up by the way." She said, "With you on sick pay and me working part-time… we won't have enough to cover all of this." AJ realised, looking across at him as Punk looked at the different numbers.

"Why have we ran up this credit card so much?" Punk asked worriedly, not realising they were dealing with such big numbers. Especially when his pay had gone down, it was a little scary.

"Because our income right now is dreadful." AJ told him honestly, "I'm gonna need to go full-time again." She nodded as Punk looked across at her.

"Hey, Ape… we'll manage." Punk nodded, "We'll be ok-"

"I think I'm pregnant." AJ looked up, dropping her pen and staring at him as he raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Punk shook his head, "How can you be pregnant?" He questioned, "We were barely having sex when all that shit with Jensen was going on-"

"In the hospital." AJ reminded him as Punk nodded slowly.

"Oh." Punk remembered, "Shit." He looked at her, "How can you be sure?"

"Well I can't be until I do a test but… I'm late, my boobs hurt, I'm overly anxious." She said, "I'm terrified to do a test because…" She paused as he looked at her and then looked at all the bills on their table, "Bad timing." She nodded to him, knowing he was thinking the same thing as Punk ran his hands over his face, "We can barely pay our bills. Add another kid onto that…" AJ stood up with worry, beginning to pace in the kitchen.

"Ok, just… just calm down." Punk nodded.

"How can I calm down?" AJ asked him, "We're gonna end up in debt, Phil. With three children. I'm turning into my mother-"

"We're not in debt. We're not even close to being in debt-"

"We're pretty close." AJ corrected him, running her hands through her hair.

"Well you don't even know you're pregnant. Let's not jump to panicking just yet-"

"I can feel it." AJ told him, "What the hell are we going to do?"

"What do you mean? We'll be fine. I'll be back at work in a couple months, if you go full-time until then we'll make these payments." He said as AJ looked across at him.

"Another child is still going to cost us. It's difficult enough at times with the two of them-"

"You don't even know you're pregnant yet. You gotta do a test." Punk said, "And then we can talk about this-"

"I know I'm pregnant, Phil. I'm never late." She said as Punk looked across at her. It was hard to digest this news, it seemed to have come smack bang in the middle of a lot of problems.

"Ok then… then we'll figure it out." Punk nodded, "We got space so it's not like we gotta move, and we'll get back on track with these bills-"

"This is my overdraft in my bank." AJ dug into her purse and extended it over to him as Punk took it worriedly, watching her pace.

"Tell me you're joking." Punk looked up at her as AJ shook her head, "April." He shook his head, "Why-Why are you just showing me this now?" He questioned angrily after seeing the very large number.

"Well it was going down and I was paying it back." AJ nodded, "But then you got hurt and our income has gone down and it's… it's going back up instead of doing." She ran her hands through her hair.

"Why are we even in overdraft anyway?" Punk questioned with confusion.

"Because we have a house to run and two kids to take care of. Car tax to pay. Normal tax to pay. Your entire medical bill." She said, "We aren't rich, Phil. Yeah, we got decent salaries but there's a lot of shit we have to pay for. And now we're adding another kid onto that."

"I can't believe this overdraft. You should have told me sooner than this, April." Punk looked at her.

"And what would we have done?" AJ asked him, "Huh?"

"Picked up more shifts-"

"You couldn't have worked any more than you already were and I had to be here for Marty." She said as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "This isn't good, Phil." AJ shook her head.

Although family life was beautiful, it was also stressful, way more stressful than it was before when it was just the two of them. And any other given time, another baby would have been such amazing news, but in this state right now, it was pretty terrifying.

"Let me look at all of this." Punk shook his head, gathering the bills whilst AJ watched him.

"I need to go lie down." She shook her head, walking out of the kitchen and heading upstairs whilst Punk looked at the mess that was their financial status.


	42. Bump

**Bump**

* * *

"Where did you go?" AJ asked, lying in bed as she watched Punk walk in through the door with a bag.

"Walk to the store." Punk told her as she sat up, watching him take out the pregnancy test box, "Figured you should probably do this." He nodded as AJ looked across at him and sighed.

"Yeah, it's probably a good idea." AJ nodded, standing up from the bed and walking over to him, taking the box from him, "What else did you get?"

"Uh… graham crackers and aspirin." Punk shrugged as AJ smiled a little.

"It's a good combo." AJ said as Punk nodded, watching her walk off into the bathroom, putting the bag down and following her in.

"How do you take this test anyway? Put it under your armpit or something?" He asked her, sitting down on the edge of the bath as AJ turned to him.

"I hope that's a joke." AJ said with concern.

"Of course it is." Punk scoffed, looking down and raising his eyebrows. He wasn't joking of course.

"I pee on it." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded slowly.

"Oh." He said, watching her sit down on the toilet as he watched her.

"Stop watching me, I can't concentrate." She rolled her eyes as Punk looked up at the ceiling causing AJ to laugh.

"Wait here." Punk turned the taps on at the sink, "Look at the water running. It helps." He nodded as AJ looked at the taps, eventually doing what she had to do and closing the test up, sitting it over by the sink and fixing herself as Punk stared at the test anxiously.

"Give it a few minutes." AJ nodded to him, sitting down on the closed toilet as he looked across at her.

"We'll figure this out." He said, "Don't panic." He nodded, "We'll pay back everything we need to and… we'll be good. Don't stress." He said as AJ sighed, running her hand through her hair, "I didn't know it was so bad." He admitted honestly.

"I didn't really either until your medical bill came in and I looked at our finances." AJ said, "And I didn't wanna say anything to you because I didn't want to stress you out anymore." She admitted.

"Hey, you gotta talk to me." Punk nodded, "We'll work our way out of this. Even with another baby." He said as AJ nodded slowly, "I mean we talked about having another one." He pointed out, trying to ease her mind a little.

"Not right now." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded. He knew she was just anxious and worried, and so was he, "I'm gonna end up like my mom. Exactly like her."

"No, you're not, April." Punk shook his head.

"I am. Bipolar, check. Ridiculous paranoia, check. In debt and financial crisis, check. Not being able to give my kids a good life, check-"

"Woah woah… hold up there." He stopped her, "I think we give the girls a pretty good life." He said, "They have clothes on their back, they have three meals a day, including snacks." He scoffed, "They have their toys and their… whatever things they play with. We do good at Christmas and their birthdays." He said, "They have a sweet life." He assured her as AJ nodded.

"You're right." AJ nodded, "They do." She realised, "But adding on another baby to that whilst trying to pay out the overdrafts we have and the credit card and keep on top of bills." AJ said, "It's gonna catch up to us."

"No, we just gotta budget better." Punk said, "I could maybe talk to Tony about a raise. I've been there a long time, I'm not so egotistical to say I'm such an amazing cop but… I do my best, I've helped out on big cases, and if you go back to full time and we just gotta put Marty into playgroup." He said.

"Marty won't like that." AJ said, "I know her."

"Well she'll have to adapt to liking it." Punk said, "Kaia didn't like playgroup at the beginning and then she loved it. And it also helped her when she started school." He said, "It'll be good for Marty." He nodded.

"She's a lot quieter than Kaia, though." AJ worried.

"She'll be fine." Punk nodded, "If we do that, we pay out the overdrafts and the credit cards, then we can get back on track and budget for the baby coming." He said as AJ nodded. Hearing him lay out a plan really did ease her mind, "Yeah things will be a little tighter but we'll be fine, ok? We're not gonna be homeless or starving." He assured her as AJ nodded, "Has that been enough time?" He asked her as she nodded, sitting back and reaching over for the pregnancy test, "Pregnant?" He assumed.

"N-No." AJ looked up at him as he raised his eyebrows, "No, it's… it's negative." AJ said.

"Really?" He questioned as AJ nodded, sighing with a little relief as Punk leaned over and looked at the test.

"I really thought I was pregnant." AJ shook her head.

"How late were you?" Punk asked her.

"A couple… days." AJ shrugged as Punk looked at her, "Ok, so I panicked." AJ realised, "I feel bad for being relieved." She admitted, sitting the test over. Both of them were relieved. It just wasn't the ideal time to have a baby, and they could openly admit that to each other.

"Don't feel bad. It was bad timing." Punk nodded, "We can agree on that." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded.

"If… in a couple of years we wanna have another one, I'm sure we will." Punk said as AJ nodded, "At least this gives us a chance to sort this money stuff out." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "Yeah, it's for the best." She said as Punk looked at her.

"Secretly disappointed?" He wondered as she shook her head and then nodded, and then shook her head again, "Which is it?" He chuckled.

"I don't know. It's for the best but… it… I guess it would have been nice to have another baby." She nodded. Even though it brought her so much stress and anxiety, thinking about the possibility of another child, it was also a warm feeling to think about having another baby.

"We can have one any time. I got another few years in me at least." Punk assured her teasingly as AJ laughed a little and nodded, "Hey, you want a cracker?" He asked, walking out of the bathroom and collecting the crackers he'd bought, slowly sitting down on the floor with her and passing the box to her.

"Why'd you get these?" AJ laughed a little, opening up the box and sitting it between them.

"I don't know, I was in the mood for them." He said, "I remember my mom used to always give me them for a snack when I went to school. They'd always end up crushed in my bag." He rolled his eyes as AJ smiled.

"Well I had to ask kids if they would share their snack with me." AJ said.

"You win that one." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Don't feel bad, though. Everyone more or less shared their things with me." AJ said, "I'd hate for the girls to go through what I did… having no money-"

"They're not gonna." Punk promised, "Yeah, we've… we've hit a little bump, but we'll get out of it. I'll go back to work as soon as I get the all clear, you can pick up more shifts, and we just gotta be a little more-"

"Responsible?" AJ finished for him.

"Well I was gonna say careful but… same thing really." Punk nodded, "I'm sure at one point, everyone has money struggles. It's not easy to have everything perfectly paid off every month." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I know." AJ said, taking another cracker from the box, "Did you talk to Dean earlier?"

"Yeah. He doesn't think it's gonna be possible to include my mom in the restraining order without her agreeing or… taking part in filing or it. Which… I can understand. You can't make someone get a restraining order against someone else." He nodded, "I could try talking to her again but… you know, she made her choice." He turned to AJ, "I said it was us and Seth or it was dad… and she… she picked him." He said.

"She might not be in the right frame of mind." AJ said.

"She's never in the right frame of mind with him." Punk shook his head and rolled his eyes, "So… what do I do? I just lose my mom too?" He questioned, "I can't feel bad when she's the one who doesn't want the help, who doesn't want to listen." He said.

"No one is saying you have to feel bad." AJ said, "You're a good person and that means that you're gonna worry about her. I'm worried about her." She admitted, "But can we really do if she doesn't listen to us?" She asked as Punk sighed to himself.

"I'd suggest that I talk to my dad but… there's absolutely no point." Punk said, "And I don't… I don't wanna see him." He shook his head.

"And you don't have to." AJ assured him, "It's not your fault that your mom is letting him back into her life." She said. She knew he was very proud and protective of his family, and he was struggling to accept all of this going on with his parents.

"I just don't want her to get hurt." Punk sighed, "I feel like I'm just waiting on that phone call from the police, or the hospital." He shook his head.

"I know. But you're right, she… she chose him. What else can we do?" AJ said.

"She's not a stupid woman, though." Punk shook his head, "It's just him. He just does something to her. It all changes when he's around." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, it's very strange." AJ agreed, "You don't suppose there is something that he's holding her against?" She wondered.

"What could it possibly be?" Punk shrugged, "She's harmless." He said.

"Yeah, I know." AJ nodded, "How is your chest?" She asked him.

"It's ok. I think when I was reading all of those bills it got a little tight." He laughed a little as AJ smiled.

"Do you think we'll be ok?" AJ looked up at him as he nodded.

"I know we will." Punk said, "We'll be just fine. I got you and I got the girls for life. We'll work our way out of it." He said as she smiled and nodded, "As for my mom and my dad… I… I really don't know what I'm supposed to do." He said, "And honestly, I'm kinda mad at Seth."

"Why?" AJ asked.

"Well he hasn't contacted me about any of it. He's barely came to see me. Dropped me a text like two days ago to ask how I was but that's been it. I know he has a life and a job but… I thought he'd be a little more bothered about mom inviting dad back into her life." Punk said.

"Seth is really good at avoiding problems." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, clearly." Punk said.

"Where on the other hand, you like to face them head on and get rid of them." AJ said, "He's probably burying himself in work and trying to forget about it-"

"Well that doesn't make it go away." Punk shook his head.

"He's never even met his dad." AJ reminded him, "The first time he properly saw him was a few weeks ago when he punched him in the face. Cut him some slack." She rubbed his arm as Punk nodded to himself, "I guess we just get the restraining order for us and… I don't know about your mom."

"Yeah, me neither." Punk said, listening as their bedroom door opened.

Punk pushed open the bathroom door with his foot and watched as Kaia came walking towards them, holding onto her owl.

"I was sick." She whispered worriedly.

"Oh, baby." AJ frowned, standing up from the floor, "Are you not well?" She sighed, walking over to her and noticing she had sick in her hair, "Oh, sweet girl. Ok, you go to daddy and I'll go change your bed." She nodded whilst Punk got to his feet.

"Why is she sick?" Punk whispered to AJ.

"Probably caught something at school." AJ nodded, "You'll need to wash her hair. I'll give you clean pyjamas in." She said whilst Kaia stood quietly, pale and tired beside her.

"Ok, come here, sweetness." Punk nodded to Kaia, taking her hand and bringing her into the bathroom as she leaned against his leg tiredly, "You not feeling good, huh?" He asked her as Kaia shook her head.

AJ went to go clean up Kaia's room, pausing first as she watched Punk lift Kaia onto the closed toilet seat, getting a cloth and wiping her face before running the bath. There was such a different side that the girls brought out in him. A side no one else got to see apart from her. A gentle, sensitive and caring side that she loved so much and that made her so grateful that her daughter's had him as their father.

She knew she was so wrong to doubt they were giving their children a good life because she knew they were. They were just going through a rough patch. It would always get better.


	43. Impossible

**"Impossible"**

* * *

"Ok so she gets medicine every four hours, it's in the fridge." AJ told Punk as she rushed around in the kitchen, "She's still napping in our room and Marty is… somewhere." She looked out the garden, "In the living room probably." She figured.

"You know that I'm… I'm their dad, right?" Punk teased as AJ looked at him, "You don't have to give me a run-down of things every time you leave them with me. I'm capable." He assured her.

"Oh, I know baby but sometimes you're useless." AJ shrugged as Punk laughed a little and nodded, "Not at being a father but at the… remembering things and keeping on top of things part." AJ said.

"Hmm, I suppose maybe I am." He agreed, "I'll remember her medicine. I'll sync it up with mine." He said as AJ smiled and nodded.

"Just call me if… if you need anything." AJ nodded. She was going back to work and didn't like the fact she was leaving not only her husband who was still finding his strength again, but also her daughter who had come down with the flu. But work was a priority.

"I will." Punk nodded, "But we'll be fine. I get along with both of them, believe it or not." He said sarcastically as AJ just made a funny face.

"You're a funny man." She said sarcastically, pinching his chin as he nodded.

"You packed your lunch?" He asked her.

"Yeah, it's in my bag." AJ nodded, "I should be home around five."

"Dinner will be waiting." He smiled as AJ nodded.

"Ok, bye." AJ reached up and kissed him, "I love you."

"Love you too." Punk smiled, watching as she quickly left the house to get to work. It felt odd not going to work himself. He'd never been off for this length of time, but he knew himself he couldn't keep up with the pace of his job with how he was still feeling. He was trying not to get impatient.

He wandered through to the living room where Marty was lying on the couch watching a kids morning TV programme.

"Mart, you good?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, daddy." Marty said, too invested in her programme to turn around.

Punk smiled and headed upstairs, walking into he and AJ's bedroom where Kaia was lying in the middle of the bed with her owl, "Hey." Punk smiled softly. She'd been poorly for a few days and had been taking some medicine for a flu.

"Hi." Kaia said as Punk lay down on his stomach beside her.

"How you feeling?" He asked her.

"Sick." Kaia replied as Punk nodded slowly. It was tough seeing her so quiet and pale. It was out of character for her not to be chatting to him and keeping her energy up.

"You wanna come down and get some medicine? Some breakfast?" He asked her, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I don't want breakfast." Kaia told him.

"You wanna stay here?" He asked her as she nodded, "Ok, baby."

"Can I have a movie on?" Kaia asked him, "And can you bring Marty up?"

"You want her to come watch a movie with you?" He asked as Kaia nodded, which made him smile. It was always nice to see the girls show affection to each other, because they barely did it, "Ok, baby. I'll go get her." He nodded, leaning over and kissing her cheek as he left the bedroom and headed downstairs.

"Hey, Mart?" Punk walked into the living room as Marty gave him an eye roll.

"What, daddy? I'm watching my show." She said.

"Well Kaia really wants you to go up and watch a movie with her in mommy and daddy's bedroom." Punk said, "I think it'd cheer her up and make her feel a little better."

"Well what movie is it?" Marty wondered.

"You can both decide." Punk said as Marty sat up.

"Ok. But only because she's sick." Marty made clear.

"Good girl." Punk smiled, "I'll bring you up a juice box, ok?" He called as Marty ran off and headed for the stairs.

He walked into the kitchen and got what he needed for the girls, including Kaia's medicine, before heading upstairs and into the bedroom.

"Room service." He announced, "Ok, it's medicine time for us, babe." He told Kaia who rolled her eyes. He was getting worried about the amount of eye rolls he was beginning to get from his daughters. It scared him for the teenage years to come.

"Do I have to?" Kaia frowned.

"You need to get better." Marty turned to her sister, very motherly patting her arm.

"But I don't like it." Kaia folded her arms.

"Tough. You have to take it." Punk told her, walking round the side of the bed and opening up the medicine, pouring it on the spoon, "Open up." He told her, giving her the medicine as she made a face of disgust immediately.

"Juice box." Marty reached over and passed to her sister, "Daddy you have to take yours too. Mommy told me that if daddy and Kaia aren't taking their medicine then I have to call her." She said.

"Ok, miss. I'm taking it." Punk told her.

"How can you have different medicine?" Kaia asked, watching Punk swallow over his pills.

"Because I'm an adult." Punk told them, "You're a baby."

"I'm not a baby." Kaia shook her head.

"Mhm." Punk said, "Ok, what movie are you guys watching?" He asked them, reaching for the remote.

"You have to watch too." Marty told him as Punk looked at the space in bed they had left him. It did look very inviting to lie in bed with his girls and watch movies all day whilst it rained and thundered outside.

"No need to convince me." He nodded, lying down on the bed beside them, propping himself up on the pillows, "What are we watching?" He asked them.

"Weekend at Bernie's?" Punk looked at them both, joking with himself of course.

"What's that?" Kaia asked.

"Nothing." Punk chuckled to himself.

"He's weird." Marty whispered to Kaia who nodded in agreement.

"I wanna watch The Incredibles." Kaia announced.

"Oh, me too." Marty agreed excitedly.

"Yeah, fine. I actually like that movie." Punk nodded to himself, sticking the film on and getting himself comfortable.

"Daddy." Marty hummed.

"Whatty?" He teased back whilst watching the movie begin.

"How come you're my daddy?" She wondered, "What if my daddy was someone else? Like Mister Incredible?" She asked him as Punk turned to her.

"You're cute." Punk assured her as Marty smiled, "Well Mister Incredible has his own children." He assured her.

"But how is my mommy and daddy… you and mommy?" Marty wondered, "Did I pick you both out?"

"If… that's the way you wanna see it." Punk nodded.

"Daddy, I would have chosen you instead of mister incredible anyway." She assured him as Punk smiled to her.

"Thanks, baby." Punk smiled.

"But how did we get here? I'd like answers." Marty nodded.

"I'd like to watch the movie, Marty." Kaia nudged her sister who nudged back.

"Me and mommy fell in love. That's how you got here." Punk said simply.

"Oh." Marty nodded slowly, "So… so if you and mommy didn't love each other then… then there'd be no me and Kaia?" Marty asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Punk nodded.

"Interesting." Marty folded her arms.

* * *

"_What are you doing?" Punk walked into the living room, looking over at AJ sitting on the couch staring at the phone, "Waiting on a call or something?"_

"_No." AJ scoffed, "I thought you were going out." She looked over at him. Still being at high school as a teen whilst Punk walked around the house with no responsibility was the worst. He was irritating and she was positive he enjoyed irritating her._

"_I was but… plans changed." Punk shrugged, adjusting his bandana._

"_Oh, did one of your fuck friends not fancy your penis tonight?" She pouted._

"_Everyone fancies my penis at all times, and you know that to be true." Punk assured her as AJ rolled her eyes._

"_I'd rather stick needles in my eyes." AJ said as Punk just chuckled to himself._

"_I can give you a peak if you want before you start making statements like that-"_

"_Ew." AJ put her hand up as Punk chuckled to himself and collapsed on the opposite couch._

"_Where is Seth?" Punk asked her._

"_Out with Leighla." AJ shrugged._

"_Oh, is someone getting dumped now their best friend has a girlfriend?" He pouted._

"_N-No." AJ shook her head, "For your information, I'm very happy for Seth." She said as Punk just nodded to himself._

"_Yeah yeah." He waved his hand, "So what's with you waiting on the phone ringing?"_

"_None of your damn business." AJ said as Punk scoffed._

"_Well then you won't mind me ordering a pizza then?" He reached for the phone as she slapped his hand away and tackled him over onto the couch as he laughed._

"_You stay." She pointed._

"_Is someone waiting on a call from a boy?" Punk sat up, getting in her face as she shoved it and sat back over on the couch, "Oh, you are." He smiled._

"_N-No." AJ shook her head._

"_You totally are." Punk laughed, amused, "I really thought you were heading down the nun root. Honestly." He nodded._

"_Well given how well you represent the male population, nunnery sounds good sometimes." AJ nodded._

"_Sounds interesting for sure. All those nuns." He wiggled his eyebrows._

"_In case you don't know… I hate you." She nodded as he smiled._

"_So who is the lucky guy?" Punk smirked._

"_Just a guy from school." She shrugged, playing with the cushion nervously._

"_And he told you he'd call you?" He assumed._

"_Yeah, over the weekend." AJ nodded._

"_That's… a little vague." Punk shook his head, "You've been sitting there all weekend?"_

"_Well… no." AJ shook her head, "I showered."_

"_Oh, well that's fine then." Punk said sarcastically, "You wanna know something really shitty that guys do?"_

"_What?" AJ looked over at him._

"_We say we'll call." He nodded, "And we never do." He whispered._

"_He's not like that." AJ shook her head, "He's actually a good person, unlike you."_

"_So he's in chess club or something?" Punk shrugged._

"_No." AJ laughed, "Book club." She mumbled as Punk raised his eyebrows._

"_Sounds like a lot of fun." Punk assured her, listening as the phone began to ring. He immediately leaped over and picked it up from the holder._

"_No, don't you dare." AJ grabbed onto him as he began to run away, "No." AJ jumped onto his back as he answered._

"_Hello." Punk spoke in a deep voice as AJ pulled at his ears, "No, this is her father." Punk said._

"_What?!" AJ shrieked as Punk dumped her down on the couch, putting his hand up for her to stay put._

"_No, she isn't in." Punk spoke in a funny voice, "She's out grooming the horses right now and then she has to milk the cows." He nodded as AJ launched a cushion at him, "Just know, she doesn't date anyone who doesn't have a trampling fetish. She really likes to put her foot on it, you know?" He nodded._

"_Oh, you bastard." AJ shrieked angrily, jumping back on his back, trying to tear the phone from him._

"_Ok, I'll tell her you called." Punk spoke in the harsh voice, hanging up as AJ pulled at his eyes, "Hey, stop it." He laughed._

"_Why did you do that?" AJ jumped off and pushed him as he shrugged._

"_Funny." He concluded._

"_You're gonna end up alone." AJ hissed, "You sad little man." She spat as Punk just smiled, "No one is gonna love you." She spat harshly as Punk chuckled._

"_You love me." He made a kissing face at her._

"_Impossible." AJ said, "I want to kick you in the face."_

"_Not far off the trampling kink." Punk smirked as AJ groaned loudly._

"_Disgusting." AJ shook her head, pushing by him as Punk chuckled to himself, sitting the phone back on the holder and dancing to himself in the living room. _


	44. Invitation

**Invitation**

* * *

"Feel good to be back?" Eve asked, watching as AJ put her coat on after finishing her shift.

"You know what… I actually am. I was dreading it but, I think I missed it." AJ nodded, "I just worry that Phil still hasn't got the energy back to care of the girls. Especially when Kaia is sick right now." She sighed.

"They'll be fine. Phil is a good dad." Eve nodded.

"Oh, I know he is. He's the best." AJ agreed, "But he's also suffering from a broken sternum so… I just don't want to put too much on his plate."

"He'll be fine." Eve nodded, "Don't worry so much."

"Well that's sort of what I do." AJ smiled a little, "I'm really not looking forward to going out into this thunder storm."

"Yeah, be careful. It's looking wild out there." Eve nodded as AJ put her hood up, "And I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, bright and early." AJ smiled.

"Ok. Good to have you back." Eve smiled as AJ nodded, leaving the back room and heading for the elevators to leave the hospital.

Her feet were tired and she felt her eyes nipping with exhaustion, but in a way it felt nice to be back at work.

She got outside into the thunder storm, quickly running to her car and starting the engine to drive home.

When she got home, it was extremely quiet and after looking downstairs, not finding any of her family, she headed on upstairs, walking into she and Punk's bedroom where she saw Punk and Kaia fast asleep whilst Marty was watching TV.

"Hi." AJ whispered, waving over to Marty who waved back.

"Hi, mommy." Marty whispered, "Daddy and Kaia are sleeping." She stated the obvious as AJ smiled and nodded.

"I see that." AJ smiled, walking over to the bed where Marty was sitting between her sister and father, "What are you watching?" AJ asked quietly, cupping Punk's cheek softly and looking over at Kaia who was curled into the covers, hugging her owl.

"Annie." Marty whispered.

"How long have they both been sleeping?" AJ smiled.

"I don't know. A while." Marty whispered as AJ nodded.

She knew her husband still wasn't back to his normal self. He was still in a lot of pain and exhausted, whilst she knew her eldest daughter wasn't feeling the best either. She wasn't surprised to come home and see this sight.

"Well hey, do you wanna come down and get some dinner?" AJ asked Marty who nodded, standing up in the bed and hopping over Punk.

"Wait, pause my movie." She reached over for the remote and paused the TV.

"Ok, come on." AJ took her hand and left the bedroom, "Were they taking their medicine?" She asked Marty, who she had pretty much left in charge.

"Yes, I made sure." Marty assured her mother as AJ smiled.

"Were you looking after them all day?" AJ asked her, walking into the kitchen.

"Yes, well we watched movies all day." Marty explained, "Mommy, what's that loud banging noise?" She asked, climbing on top of the chair at the table.

"It's just the thunder, baby. I think there's a storm coming out there." She nodded.

"I don't think I like it." Marty admitted.

"It's ok. As long as we're inside." AJ smiled, cupping her cheek softly, "You wanna help me make dinner?" She asked as Marty nodded.

"What we having?" Marty asked, running over to the large cupboard by the door and getting her apron out as AJ smiled.

"Lasagne." AJ said, "You can help me layer it all." She nodded.

"Ok." Marty smiled excitedly, pushing one of the chairs over to the kitchen counter so she could lean on it.

They carried on making dinner. Little things like so really brightened up AJ's day. To have these sweet family moments with her children were everything to her. However, they were interrupted when there was a knock at the door.

"Keep spreading that around. Good job." AJ smiled to Marty, rubbing her back softly and leaving the kitchen, walking down the hallway towards the door. She was almost scared to open up the door due to the storm outside, but she did nevertheless.

"April." Jack smiled, walking into the house immediately without giving AJ a choice as she watched him, "God, it's wild out there." He shook his head as AJ turned and looked at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" AJ spat, closing the door over and looking across at him. It outraged her that this man just had the audacity, the nerve to burst into her own house like this.

"Just passing by, thought I'd stop in and say hello." Jack shrugged.

"Passing by? You're out walking the streets in that storm?" AJ asked him.

"I like a good storm." Jack nodded, walking on through to the kitchen.

"Hey, you are not welcomed here." AJ followed him anxiously, watching him wander into the kitchen where Marty was still layering up the dinner.

"Oh, what's this?" Jack smirked, looking over at Marty who turned around, "Is someone helping mommy make dinner?" He smiled as Marty looked at him.

"I am." Marty nodded.

"You must be so clever." Jack smiled.

"Baby, why don't you go wash up." AJ nodded to Marty.

"Mommy I don't think it's done yet." Marty shook her head.

"I'll finish it off, you go wash up." AJ nodded to her.

"Oh, alright." Marty huffed, getting off the chair and taking her apron off, running by AJ and out of the kitchen.

"She's the cutest." Jack smiled to AJ who glared at him, "Nadine really misses them, you know. What you did… giving her the choice of them or me… that was very cruel." He nodded, "She loves her grandchildren."

"Well I find it cruel that she picked you, an evil, abusive control freak over her own sons and granddaughters." AJ said, "We're in the middle of filing a restraining order against you. You need to leave my house right now." She warned.

"I actually came here with an invitation." Jack nodded as AJ looked at him.

"For what?" AJ spat.

"Thanksgiving." Jack smiled, "At our house. Nadine would really like for you to come."

"You have to be kidding me, right?" AJ questioned.

"Not kidding." Jack shook his head, "Don't you think it would be nice? Having everyone at the same table. As a family-"

"You are not my family." AJ made clear.

"Seth is invited too with his wife." Jack said, "It would make Nadine really happy." He nodded, stepping in closer to AJ who looked up at him.

"We are not coming." AJ made clear, "I don't know what you have over her, but one day you will get everything you deserve." AJ said, "And I'm gonna be the first one to smile about it." She nodded, watching as he began to walk towards her, feeling herself hit the kitchen counter with nowhere else to back up to.

"You shouldn't be so confident." Jack said, looking down at her, "You have quite the mouth on you." He nodded as AJ looked up at him.

"Get out of my house." Punk stood at the door as Jack slowly turned around which gave AJ the chance to step away from him.

"Well look who finally decided to show his face." Jack smirked as Punk glared across at him.

It was extremely hard for Punk to be looking across at his father, but there was no way he was going to let him into his home, let him intimidate his wife like this.

"Leave." Punk told him as Jack looked across at him.

"You did good, son." Jack nodded, walking over to him as AJ watched nervously, "I'm proud of you." He whispered, grabbing Punk by the shoulders as Punk pushed them away immediately.

"Get out of my house." Punk gritted his teeth as Jack looked at him.

"I came here to invite you, your family, to thanksgiving dinner." Jack said, "Your mother really wants you to come. We could… we could be a family." He smiled.

"You are not my family." Punk made clear, glaring at him as Jack stared back. There was a few minutes of silence, where AJ watched them both stare at each other aggressively.

"Please just leave." AJ looked over at them.

"She talks too much." Jack nodded to Punk, "Just like your mother." He smirked as Punk grabbed him around the throat, pushing him against the fridge roughly, keeping his hands around his throat.

"Phil, be careful!" AJ exclaimed, conscious of her husband's physical state.

"If there was even just a shred of good in you, way deep down, deep… deep down." Punk said, "You would leave her alone. You would let her live her life and you would disappear." Punk spat as Jack laughed whilst Punk choked him out.

"Ok, Phil. Just let him go." AJ nodded as Punk pushed his father down to the ground, standing over him as Jack looked up, massaging his neck as Punk stayed glaring down at him, just like he would watch his father do to him when he was younger.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" Punk looked down at him as Jack looked up at him, "Get out of my house." He stepped back, walking over to AJ. He didn't have the desire to have a conversation with his father. He didn't want to be in a room with him. He didn't want him anywhere near him. He didn't want to waste energy or time on this horrible man.

"Think about thanksgiving." Jack nodded, "Maybe after… I'll disappear like you want me too." He said as Punk looked across at him.

"Get out." Punk said, wrapping his arm around AJ as Jack looked over at them, nodding to himself and smiling before turning around and walking out of the house as Punk placed his hand over his chest painfully.

"Are you ok?" AJ sighed.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine." Punk shook his head, "Why didn't you shout on me?" He asked her.

"Before I knew it he was already in the house, in here." AJ shook her head, "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine." Punk nodded.

"He came over to invite us to Thanksgiving dinner?" AJ questioned, "Does this man live on another planet?" She shook her head as Punk took a seat at the table and shook his head.

"I don't know what he's trying to do." Punk shook his head, rubbing his chest softly which he strained when he choked his father, "Marty came and woke me up. Said there was a strange man downstairs. As you can imagine, I shit myself." Punk shook his head.

"We were in the middle of making dinner." AJ said, "What do you think he meant when he said… after he might disappear." She looked at him.

"I think it's bullshit. I think he's playing games and I think this damn restraining order needs to hurry up." Punk said as AJ sighed and nodded.

"Mommy, I washed up." Marty announced, running into the kitchen.

"Good job, baby." AJ smiled happily, "We can talk later." She nodded to Punk who just smiled and nodded.

"I should go wake Kaia up for medicine and some dinner." Punk nodded, "You ok?" He asked AJ, walking over to her and rubbing her shoulder softly.

"Yeah, I'm ok." AJ said, kissing his chest softly, "We'll talk later." She nodded, "Ok, munchkin, help me put this in the oven then." AJ nodded to Marty who smiled excitedly whilst Punk headed upstairs to get Kaia. It was hard carrying on with life with the looming shadow of Jack hanging around them.


	45. Accepted

**Accepted**

* * *

"It's so crazy out there." AJ sighed, looking out the kitchen window at the storm which seemed to be worsening over the course of the night, "Power's probably gonna go out." She nodded, turning around where Punk was sitting at the table, not saying much, "You ok?" She asked him.

"Why would he invite us to thanksgiving?" Punk shook his head, "What the hell is he playing at?"

"I have no idea." AJ shook her head, "Said he was inviting Seth too." She nodded.

"Knowing Seth, he'll probably go." Punk rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't think so." AJ shook her head.

"Have you spoke to him yet?" He asked.

"No, not… not in a few days." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Me neither. Not even a text." Punk shook his head as AJ watched him. She could see that he was hurt by Seth's lack of involvement in the current situation. She knew when it came to dealing with difficult situations, both Punk and Seth were very different. Whilst Punk was willing to face things head on, she knew Seth found comfort in pretending it didn't exist.

"I'll call him tomorrow." AJ nodded, "He's just playing games with us." She shook her head, "Trying to get into our heads."

"Why would he say he would disappear after thanksgiving?" Punk questioned.

"I don't know." AJ sighed, "He's probably not meaning it."

"No, maybe not." Punk agreed, suddenly watching as the lights all turned off.

"Mommy!" Marty squealed from in the living room as Punk chuckled a little, "Mommy, it's dark!" Marty yelled with fear as AJ walked on into the living room, "Mommy." Marty gasped, jumping off the couch and running to AJ for comfort whilst Kaia was too sick and stayed on the couch.

"Our movie is gone." Kaia pointed to the TV which had switched off.

"The storm must have put the power out." Punk told them.

"I don't like the dark." Marty pulled at her mother as AJ lifted her up.

"It's ok. It's not gonna hurt you." AJ assured her, cupping the back of her head.

"Why don't you take them upstairs to bed and I'll bring up some candles and blankets." Punk told AJ who nodded.

"Yeah, ok." AJ nodded, "Come on, girls." AJ took Kaia's hand and headed on upstairs with them whilst Punk fetched some things for them to get by without power.

It wasn't the first time the power had been out, but he was sure it was the first time with Marty. She was obviously not a big fan.

By the time Punk collected some candles and blankets from downstairs, he got upstairs into he and AJ's bedroom where he saw Kaia and Marty in the bed.

"I believe this is my bed." Punk nodded to them.

"No, daddy I can't sleep in the dark." Marty shook her head, "And Kaia is sick so she has to come too." She stroked her sister like a cat.

"Only babies can't sleep in the dark." Punk teased, lighting the candles.

"Hey, I'm not a baby." Marty pointed at him.

"Well if you can't sleep in the dark." Punk shrugged.

"But it's scary outside." Marty frowned.

"And we're inside." Punk reminded her.

"I can still hear." Marty said, "I think I have to sleep here tonight."

"Me too." Kaia piped up.

"Well then me and mommy are off to the couch then." Punk shrugged.

"No." Marty frowned, "No, daddy I need you here." She said, "Because it's noisy." She nodded as AJ smiled.

Punk looked over to AJ who just smiled and shrugged, "Mhm, ok. Fine. Move along." He told them, getting into bed where Kaia and Marty were between he and AJ, "But this is only because of the storm." He made clear. He wasn't about to let his children always sleep in his bed.

"Ok." Marty smiled, taking the blanket and shaking it out for her and Kaia.

* * *

It didn't take long for both Marty and Kaia to both fall asleep, leaving Punk and AJ feeling a little distant than usual in their bed.

"I can't believe they cock blocked me." Punk shook his head as AJ laughed a little, "Devils." He looked at his children, who were the most angelic little people he knew.

"I don't think that sort of activity is good for your chest right now anyway." AJ teased.

"Weren't saying that last night." Punk smirked to himself.

"Well a girl still has needs." AJ nodded, "Why is it when you can't have sex, you want it the most?" She folded her arms.

"Nature being a bitch." Punk nodded, "Remember our sex life before kids?" He asked.

"You think it was better?" AJ asked worriedly.

"No, well… it was just different." Punk shrugged, "There was a time, you know. I spent it making sure I didn't finish too quickly and now I'm doing the opposite to go make sure they get to bed on time." He said as AJ smiled.

"Don't you think that's sexy?" AJ asked him.

"What? Me finishing quickly?" Punk raised a brow.

"No, well… I don't know, you're different when your conscious." She nodded.

"Like how?" Punk laughed a little.

"I don't know, you're a lot more aggressive. In a good way. Like… the bending over tables type of sex." She said, "It's fun." She smiled over to him.

"That's your favourite kind of sex?" Punk questioned curiously.

"No, no… my favourite is when we have hours." AJ nodded, "But it's different. Different moods and vibes." She said as Punk nodded.

"Well what's your least favourite then?" Punk asked curiously.

"No such thing with you." AJ smiled as Punk laughed a little.

"I see you're being polite." Punk nodded as AJ smiled.

"You ever had a threesome?" She asked randomly as Punk chuckled.

"April." Punk laughed, turning to her.

"What? Whilst we're on the topic." AJ shrugged, "Have you?" She wondered.

"N-No." Punk scoffed, looking away from her as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Yes you have." AJ smirked, "You so have." She said as Punk rolled his eyes.

"It was when I was younger." Punk shrugged.

"How young?" AJ asked with concern.

"Eighteen." Punk shrugged.

"You had issues." AJ nodded, "Two girls or… two guys?" She smirked.

"Two girls." Punk assured her, "What about you?" He folded his arms.

"Oh… n-no, I… I wouldn't do that." AJ waved her hand, looking down as Punk watched her suspiciously.

"You totally have." Punk realised, raising his eyebrows, "You so have." He laughed as AJ went a little red, "Oh my God." He chuckled to himself, "You told me you'd never even had a one night stand before."

"Well… apart from that." AJ shrugged.

"Two girls?" He asked her.

"No, two guys." AJ nodded.

"April Jeanette." Punk raised his eyebrows, "When the hell was this?" He asked.

"Oh, I don't know. You were at the academy and I'd just moved out into my own place. I was just out with some friends from med school and we met these guys." She shrugged, "Just sort of happened." She nodded as he gasped, "What? You can have a threesome and I can't?"

"Well… no, it's just… I'm a little scandalised that's all." Punk said as she smiled, "Ok, worse sex you've ever had with someone." He nodded.

"Oh, when I lost my virginity." AJ nodded, "Definitely."

"Well go on, tell me more." Punk nodded.

"I just… I don't think I was ready. It was just awkward and… there was no chemistry. He asked me to put the condom on with my mouth and I almost choked." She nodded as Punk laughed to himself, "And I also didn't even have an orgasm." She shrugged.

"That sounds horrible." Punk nodded.

"What about you?" AJ asked.

"I had sex with a girl who… cried the entire time." Punk nodded as AJ raised her eyebrows, "At first I thought I was… I don't know, hurting her or something so I stopped and she was confused. She told me not to stop so I didn't and she… continued to cry." Punk shook his head, "I was a little scared." He admitted.

"Yeah, no kidding." AJ laughed, "What about best sex you've ever had? I know it's obviously with me." She smirked, "But you got a favourite?" She smiled.

"I got lots of favourites." Punk nodded, "Our wedding night. My birthday three years ago. That night we had that big fight over Seth's wedding present." He said.

"Oh, yeah." AJ smirked, remembering.

"There's too many." Punk thought to himself as AJ smiled.

"You know what my favourite was?" AJ asked him.

"What?" Punk smiled.

"We'd just got together and we'd gone to your mom's for dinner. I came home and you'd left me lingerie. That was good." She smirked.

"I remember that." Punk smiled to himself, "We were just babies back then." Punk nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, "It's crazy how much has happened since then." She nodded, "Good and bad."

"Yeah." Punk agreed as AJ looked at him.

"Still thinking about your dad?" She asked.

"Yeah. I just… I feel nothing for this man. He isn't my dad. He's just some guy." Punk said, "I've came to terms with that. I did a long time ago but… why would he insist on coming back into our lives like this? What does he get out of it?" He questioned.

"He's a horrible person." AJ nodded.

"What if we went to thanksgiving." Punk turned to her as AJ looked at him.

"Are you insane?" AJ questioned.

"Well… he obviously wants us there for a reason." Punk said.

"Yeah and do you really wanna know what that reason is?" AJ asked, "I'm not taking the girls anywhere near him, Phil."

"He's up to something." Punk shook his head, "And there's one of him and all of us."

"Oh God, you're being serious." AJ sighed worriedly.

"It'll catch him off guard." Punk said.

"Phil, you're in no fit state to be fighting with anyone, and I'm not taking the girls into that sort of environment." AJ shook her head.

"Who says there will be fighting?" Punk said, "Seth will be there. We can… We can play him at his own game."

"We don't even know what game he's even playing." AJ shook her head, "I don't wanna ruin my thanksgiving, or the girls' by letting him take control of it. I know you're curious and… and we don't know what he's up to but… I don't think this is a good idea."

"I promise you, you or the girls won't be hurt." Punk nodded, "I'll invite Dean too, he'll have no chance of starting anything with us." He said.

"He's just gonna talk shit to us." AJ said, "In front of our children?" AJ questioned, "I don't want that. And I know you don't either."

"He's up to something and I wanna be the first to catch him out and… and send him packing." Punk said as AJ sighed, "Trust me, there's better ways I wanna spend my thanksgiving but… if there's any way I can get rid of him, I'm gonna take it-"

"You don't even know what he's up to." AJ said.

"That's why I wanna go-"

"Damn you, Phil Brooks and your… cop tendencies." AJ rolled her eyes as Punk smiled a little, "I swear if you get yourself hurt or worse, my girls get hurt, you'll have me to answer to." She pointed a finger at him as Punk put his hands up in defence, "And it won't be the type of fight that ends in sex." She made clear as Punk nodded slowly.

"Nothing's gonna happen. You'll be fine. They…" He looked at the girls sleeping between them, "They'll be fine." He nodded, "I know he's up to something. And I don't have to hide from him anymore." He said as AJ looked at him and nodded.

She knew he always wanted to face his fears, to face his problems and deal with them. She was just worried about the outcome this could possibly have.


	46. Held Over You

**Held Over You**

* * *

"Happy thanksgiving, friends." Dean smiled, meeting Punk, AJ and the girls outside Nadine's house, "We ready for this shit show?" He asked, holding a bottle of wine.

"Dean." AJ smacked him on the arm as the girls looked up at Dean.

"What?" Dean shrugged.

"Who is the wine for?" Punk questioned.

"Your mom." Dean shrugged.

"My mom doesn't drink wine." Punk told him.

"Well then you have it." Dean said teasingly as Punk just put his hands up, "So what's the plan?"

"There's no plan." Punk shook his head, "We go in and we… we have thanksgiving dinner." Punk nodded.

"So why the hell am I here?" Dean asked, "I had a lot of lady friends asking me to their house for dinner. I thought my services were needed here." He said.

"They are." AJ assured him, "Phil still has a broken chest, basically. So-"

"So I'm here to be the bodyguard?" Dean raised a brow.

"My chest isn't broken. My sternum is healing." Punk corrected her as AJ just rolled her eyes.

"Where is the turkey?" Kaia asked impatiently, swinging from her father's hand. Both the girls had their little dresses on with ribbons in their hair. AJ always dressed them up nice for special occasions, and they just looked like the most adorable kids ever.

"Exactly what I was wondering." Dean nodded, "Seth already here?" He asked.

"He said he'd go on ahead." AJ nodded.

"Ok." Dean said, "Well, let's go then." He nodded as Punk turned to AJ, giving her a reassuring nod before walking on up to the door, knocking on it and waiting.

To the girls, they were just going to their Gran's house for dinner like they always done every year. AJ and Punk were glad they weren't sensing any bad atmosphere.

"If things kick off then we leave." AJ said quietly, squeezing Punk's hand as he nodded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed, watching as someone came to the door, noticing it was his father standing.

"You made it." Jack smiled, "Who is this?" He pointed to Dean.

"Basically their third child." Dean nodded, "So thanks for having me. Here." He passed the wine over to Jack who nodded slowly.

"Well come in." Jack nodded, stepping aside and letting them all in, "Phil." He nodded as Punk walked in first, "April." He smiled to AJ who refused to look at him, walking on in, keeping the girls close to them. In a house they both grew up in, it was funny how unsafe it felt, "I can take your coats."

"We'll keep them." AJ said.

"Mommy, take my coat, please." Marty ripped her coat off, shoving it into her mother's legs as Kaia did the same. AJ took them through to the kitchen where Seth and Becky were already sitting along with Nadine.

They unenthusiastically wished everyone a happy thanksgiving whilst Dean joined in loosely behind.

"I didn't think you were coming." Nadine admitted.

"Nini where is the turkey?" Kaia questioned, sitting down in between Punk and AJ.

"Oh, it'll be ready soon." Nadine smiled. It was so good to see her granddaughters again after not seeing them for weeks. She'd missed their cheeky little smiles and their adorable little voices.

"Well I for one, am glad we all made it." Jack smirked, walking around the table and standing at the top as Punk looked over. It boiled his blood to be here, sitting in the same room as his own father, but curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Why did you invite us anyway?" Seth piped up as Punk looked over at him, "I mean… you know it to be true, we don't like you." Seth shrugged as Jack nodded slowly.

"I thought this was a good way to… start fresh. To show you all that I'm different. I'm not the same man I was before. I'm better than that man." Jack nodded, "And it's ironic that I tell you all how thankful I am that you all came, to give me a chance." Jack nodded to them as Nadine smiled.

"Boys, I really want you to give this a chance." Nadine sighed, "It's not like how it was before." She shook her head as Jack placed his hand on her shoulder, "We're doing really good." She nodded as Punk and Seth looked at her.

They could see how convinced their mother was, and it was so worrying to see her manipulated by this man.

"Aren't we having turkey?" Kaia whispered to AJ.

"Soon, baby." AJ nodded.

"It's coming, sweetheart. Don't you worry." Jack nodded.

"Mom, how have you been?" Punk asked. Although still hurt by his mother's choice she made, he was still concerned for her health and well-being of course.

"I've been fine, sweetheart." Nadine smiled, "Almost finished my chemo. Your father has been taking me every week." She nodded as Punk nodded slowly, looking across to Seth who looked back suspiciously, "What about you? How's your chest?"

"It's getting better." Punk nodded.

"What did you do again, Phil? What happened?" Jack asked, taking the turkey out of the oven as Kaia watched with a smile.

"I got shot." Punk said bluntly.

"Where?" Jack asked.

"In the chest." Punk told him.

"You're lucky to come away from that alive." Jack nodded as AJ rolled her eyes, "Risky job you have, especially with little children. You must have April's blood pressure through the roof-"

"My blood pressure is fine." AJ butted in.

"It wasn't really a job I was on. It was… more of a personal thing." Punk said.

"And what about you two?" Jack turned to Becky and Seth, "How long have you both been married? Your mother told me but I just keep forgetting."

"Just a few months." Seth nodded.

"And you're from… Ireland, Becky?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Becky nodded politely, "Dublin to be specific."

"Not some place I've been." Jack said, "Who would have thought? My sons marrying immigrants-"

Punk immediately stood up, his chair scraping back against the floor as Marty and Kaia looked at him with confusion.

"Phil." AJ calmed.

"What did you just say?" Punk questioned.

"Just… telling the truth." Jack shrugged.

"I was born here you pig." AJ spat as Jack looked over.

"I moved here for work." Becky glared up at Jack whilst all of them stared at him, including Dean. It was very telling what type of person he was.

"Technicalities." Jack waved his hand, "I didn't mean anything by it." Jack put his hands up in defence.

"So you think less of me and Becky because of our backgrounds?" AJ questioned as Punk sat back down slowly, "You think less of my daughters? You'd treat them like they don't belong here?" AJ spat.

"This got blown way out of proportion." Jack laughed a little.

"He didn't mean anything by it." Nadine defended as Punk shook his head. It was incredibly hard to sit in the room and act like everything was ok, especially when disgusting comments were being made like that.

"And where are you from?" Becky asked, "Here?" She questioned with attitude.

"Chi town born and raised." Jack smiled, putting the turkey down in the centre of the table.

"Turkey." Kaia smiled excitedly as Marty looked up.

"You girls ready for some?" Jack asked them as they both nodded, "Been roasting all day in the oven." He smiled, "You know they say, when they kill a turkey, they chop their heads off and they still run around." He nodded to the girls, "Or is that a chicken?"

"Oh." Kaia sat back a little, "Do they?" She whispered to her mother as Marty wrapped her arm around Punks.

"Poor turkey, I don't wanna eat that." Marty sighed as Jack looked at them both.

"He's telling lies." AJ nodded to them, "It's fine." She assured them both.

"Yeah, it's ok." Punk nodded to Marty, rubbing her back softly.

"Ok, everybody tuck in." Jack announced as AJ looked over to Punk angrily. Anyone could have cut the tension with a knife.

"Mommy can you please help me?" Kaia asked AJ who nodded, reaching over for some of the food to help Kaia whilst Punk did the same for Marty.

"Everything looks good." Dean nodded politely, "They teach you how to cook in prison?" He questioned as Punk smirked to himself a little whilst Seth chuckled.

"They do actually." Jack smiled, unbothered, "I learned a lot in prison." He nodded, "Made me a better man. An understanding man." He nodded, "An honest man." He smiled to them all, still standing at the top of the table, "Why don't we all make a toast first before we eat?" Jack questioned.

"Oh, I wanna eat." Marty huffed, folding her arms.

"We're not really a toasting family." Punk assured him as Marty began eating her mash potatoes regardless. She wasn't waiting around on anyone anymore.

"I think it's a lovely idea." Nadine smiled.

"I bet you do." Jack smiled as Punk looked over, "Everyone get a glass." He smiled, looking over to Seth specifically.

AJ rolled her eyes and whipped her napkin out of the glass, reaching over for the drink on the table behind whilst everyone else did the same.

"What… What is this?" Seth shook his head, realising his napkin had been rolled up with some sort of piece of paper.

Nadine looked over with confusion as did the rest of them.

"Why is my birth certificate in here?" Seth shook his head as Nadine's eyes widened.

"W-What?" Nadine turned to Jack who squeezed her shoulder tightly, to stay sitting down, "N-No… no, Seth just pass me it over." Nadine nodded, trying to stay calm.

"No harm in reading it." Jack shrugged, taking a swig of his drink whilst Punk looked over to AJ with confusion.

"What is going on?" AJ questioned, looking over at Seth reading the birth certificate.

"Seth, honey, just put it down." Nadine shook her head as Seth slowly put the certificate down, looking over at Punk.

"What?" Punk shook his head, "What is it?"

"W-Why is there a blank space under father?" Seth turned to Nadine who gulped.

"It's… it's just a misprint." Nadine shook her head as Jack chuckled to himself.

"Likes to tell lies, doesn't she?" Jack nodded, "Tell him."

"Tell me what?" Seth shook his head, "What the hell is going on?"

"How could you?" Nadine stood up, glaring at Jack who smiled.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Jack nodded coldly, "Tell your son. Tell him you don't know who his real father is… because you cheated on me." He raised his glass to her as AJ turned to Punk.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"Mommy can I have more turkey, please?" Kaia asked AJ.

"H-Help yourself." AJ told her, distracted by the conversation going on.

"Tell him!" Jack yelled, "Tell all of them."

"You're… you're not our dad?" Seth raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, I'm Phil's dad." Jack smirked over at Punk, "I'm just not yours." He frowned, "Shame really." He nodded as AJ placed her hand over her mouth.

"You can't be serious." Punk shook his head, looking over at Seth who was staring at his birth certificate.

"Deadly." Jack nodded, "And this one here, didn't want to tell you both because… well she was worried about what her sons would think of her. And she was worried that her sons would feel… less close." He nodded, wrapping his arm around Nadine who glared at him.

It was then AJ realised so clearly what had been going on. The way she saw Nadine's facial expressions change right here, right now. It was so obvious that this was what he had been holding over her for so long.

"You bastard." Nadine shook her head, "Seth… I can explain all of this, ok?"

"Explain you're a lying whore." Jack nodded as Punk stood up from the table.

"Get out of this house." Punk spat, looking over as Seth stood up from the table, "Seth, wait." He shook his head as Seth walked out of the kitchen and headed for the door. Becky soon followed after, worried about her husband and quickly escaping the tense atmosphere in the kitchen.

"Phil, I didn't want it to be like this." Nadine shook her head as Punk looked across at her.

"Is this for real?" Punk asked.

"I… I just… I didn't think it mattered-"

"Of course you didn't." Jack nodded, walking over to the corner and grabbing his jacket "Well, it has been lovely seeing you all. Meeting new faces." He turned to AJ who shook her head, looking down tearfully with sadness for her best friend, for this horrid lie, this horrible secret.

"No… no you wait a second." Punk put his hand up, "Is this what you had over her all these years? Why she… she let you beat her up? So you wouldn't tell us about this-"

"Smart." Jack nodded.

"And you took your anger out on me. A seven year old." Punk realised as Nadine placed her hands over her mouth, crying as Punk shook his head, "I'm gonna kill you." Punk went for Jack as Dean stood up right away and kept him back.

"Hey, man. Not in front of the girls." Dean told Punk as Punk looked over to the girls who were looking up at him curiously, wondering what he was doing.

"No, you stay." Jack told him, "You're a good dad. Not like me." Jack nodded, "I bet you're so damn relieved that I'm still your dad, huh?" He smirked sarcastically as Punk shook his head.

"Get out of this house and don't come back." Nadine spat as Jack turned to her and nodded.

"Mhm, I won't. I waited twenty odd years to have this moment and… it is sweet. Like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. What about you?" He smiled to Nadine who slapped him hard across the face, "You know… I think this might be the first time I let you away with that." He rubbed his cheek as Nadine glared at him through her tears.

"Happy thanksgiving." Jack nodded to them all, walking out of the kitchen and leaving the house as Punk looked over at his mother who was shaking and crying, turning to AJ who looked up at him with so much confusion and disbelief. This wasn't what they expected.


	47. End To A Bad Day

**End To A Bad Day**

* * *

"Phil… Phil, listen to me. I am… I am so sorry." Nadine shook her head, walking around the table towards Punk who was standing in complete shock after what had just gone down.

"I'm not the first one that should be on your sorry list." Punk reminded her angrily, "All you had to do was tell us. Tell Seth. And… And all of this could have been avoided. He… that man, could have been avoided-"

"He was coming anyway." Nadine sighed, "I didn't want it to change anything between you and your brother. I didn't want you to think you were any less of brothers because of this and… and I didn't want you to think differently of me-"

"You think I would judge you for cheating on dad? The worst human being alive? I wouldn't and I do not care what you did when you were with him." Punk made clear, turning around and noticing Marty and Kaia looking up at him, as though they were watching a movie, "Ape, you wanna… take them into the living room or something." Punk nodded to AJ.

"Yeah. Come on, girls." AJ said, helping the girls out of their chairs and walking through to the living room, leaving only Punk, Dean and Nadine in the kitchen.

"So this is why you let him treat you the way he did? Because he knew he wasn't Seth's father and you thought that me and Seth finding out would… would be the worst thing on earth?" He questioned.

"Yes. As a mother, I did." Nadine said, "I don't cheat, it's not like me-"

"Mom, the guy cheated on you with a ton of women. You can't be seriously feeling guilty about this." Punk shook his head with confusion.

"Well I do." Nadine snapped, "So let me feel how I wanna feel." She said, "I didn't want Seth to know. I thought it was… it was too far gone to let him know now and-"

"You could have told him years ago, when he was a teen growing up, when dad… my dad, wasn't here. And then when that scum got out of prison, he'd have nothing to hold against you." Punk said.

"Is that really all he had against you?" Dean questioned, "It seems… pretty minor."

"My youngest son just found out his father isn't who he always thought it was and that… that's minor to you?" Nadine spat.

"Well it's not something you hold over someone." Dean shrugged, "Wouldn't it have been easier just to tell Phil and Seth, be honest, so that… like Phil said, when Jack got out of prison, he'd have nothing to come at you with."

"I didn't want Seth to find out." Nadine shook her head, "And I didn't know he was going to do that today. He told me that… that if I tried to kick him out that he'd tell you both so I… I went along with things and I let him back in-"

"And he did it anyway." Punk nodded, "Why couldn't Seth just find out? What's the issue? You know what… I'd be thrilled to know that Jack wasn't my dad. I'd be over the moon-"

"Did your brother look over the moon just there?" Nadine asked him, "I didn't want it to break the closeness of you two-"

"He is my brother, mom. Even if you told me he didn't have the same dad or mom as me, he is still my brother, I grew up with him, he's in my life and I love him." Punk said, "That would never have mattered and if you… if you didn't realise that you're an idiot." He shook his head.

"So… so I'm the bad guy in all of this?" Nadine wondered.

"You could have prevented this from happening." Punk nodded, "For sure."

"And you think that even if I did tell Seth years ago, that Jack wouldn't have come here anyway?" Nadine asked.

"No, but we'd all be able to get rid of him and you wouldn't have to play dumb and be his puppet for weeks." Punk said, "You brought this man back in our lives. Do you have any idea how much I hate that man? I… I don't think you do." He shook his head as Dean sat back on his chair, "You telling us about Seth's real father could have helped us get rid of him quicker."

"I didn't want Seth to find out." Nadine shook her head, "I didn't want to hurt him."

"It… mom, it would have made no difference. We've never had a dad so telling him that his dead beat dad that has been in prison all his life isn't really his dad, probably wouldn't have made a difference." Punk said, "He's upset now because you kept it from him for so long." He shook his head.

"Maybe it's best we just leave this alone for a few days." Dean suggested, "Let things cool down." He nodded.

"Yeah, I… I have nothing to say to you." Punk realised, "You should have told him."

"It was my call and I didn't want to." Nadine made clear as Punk shook his head.

"Your call on someone that affects him." Punk said, "And you were so adamant about it that you brought that horrible man back into our lives, you put my daughter's at risk, your own granddaughters." Punk said, "Just so Seth wouldn't find out that he has a different father? Dean is right… you made this bigger than what it had to be-"

"Always my fault." Nadine nodded.

"I don't even want to talk to you right now." Punk shook his head.

"Then maybe you should go then." Nadine nodded as Punk walked out of the kitchen and through to the living room.

"Come on, let's go." Punk nodded to AJ who stood up.

"What's going on?" AJ asked.

"Let's just get out of here." Punk nodded to her.

"I think we need to go check on Seth." AJ said.

"We didn't even get dessert." Kaia folded her arms.

"And I couldn't finish my mash potatoes." Marty huffed as Punk looked at them.

"Why don't you take them home?" Punk nodded to AJ, "I'll go see Seth and then I'll bring some food home." He said, cupping AJ's cheeks.

"Are you ok?" AJ asked, taking his hands from her cheeks and holding them in hers, "I can't believe this."

"Yeah, I'm… I'm ok." Punk nodded, "You go. I'll check on Seth."

"Ok." AJ sighed, rubbing his arm softly.

"Hey, you two. I'll bring home some dessert for you in a little bit, ok? You're gonna go home with mommy." He said, helping them put their coats back on.

"What kind of dessert?" Marty asked, intrigued.

"Something with chocolate." Kaia nodded excitedly.

"I'll surprise you." He smiled to them, giving them both a kiss on the head before turning to AJ and kissing her sweetly on the lips, "I won't be too late." He told her as AJ nodded.

It had been a long, exhausting day and AJ was lost for words after everything they had found out today, and also very confused as to why this had been hidden for so long. She just wanted to get the girls home and leave Punk to check on Seth, so not to overwhelm him.

* * *

Punk and Dean left Nadine's straight after. Punk had nothing more to say to his mother. There was nothing he could say or do to get any further information from her. He wasn't sure there was any further information. It appeared his mother had made a selfish decision on her own to avoid any sort of negative reflection on herself, but in the long run, she'd only made things so much worse for herself.

He tried to shift his focus more to his brother. He knew that regardless of not having any father figure in his life anyway, it must have been shocking to hear that his father wasn't who he thought it was.

Punk got to Seth's house and knocked on the door where Becky came to answer.

"Hey." Punk smiled softly, "Is Seth in?"

"Yeah." Becky nodded, "I don't think now is such a good time." She shook her head.

"I promise I won't stay long. I just… I want to talk to him." Punk said as Becky nodded.

"Come in." Becky nodded as Punk walked into the house, "He's in the kitchen." She said as Punk nodded, walking through to the kitchen where Seth was sat at the table with a beer.

"Hey." Punk nodded as Seth looked up.

"Hey." Seth nodded.

"You ok?" Punk asked him, taking a seat at the table as Seth shrugged.

"Don't really know." Seth admitted, "Is it just me or... as we get older is mom being painted in a different light?" He questioned as Punk nodded slowly.

"It's... it's easy to blame her, I guess." Punk nodded.

"Why now?" Seth asked, "Why not twenty years ago? Why waste all of that time?"

"Not that I agree with what she's done, keeping it from you, but… I think she was worried that it would come between us."

"And do you think it would have?" Seth asked, "Will it?" He looked across at his brother.

"Nothing could ever make me less of your brother." Punk assured him, "Whether we got different dads, different moms, both… you're still my little brother, you always will be." Punk nodded, "And I just… I don't know why mom couldn't tell you sooner. Surely it would have avoided Jack coming back and holding it over her head-"

"Yeah, what's that about?" Seth questioned, "It doesn't change anything, you're right. I just… I don't know why she couldn't have just told me." He shrugged, "Why was she so scared?"

"I don't know." Punk shook his head, "I really don't." He said, "It seems so dramatized, you know? Jack holding this over her head, keeping her on strings just so it didn't all come out… I'm… I'm not convinced about anything just yet."

"What do you mean? You think she's still keeping things from us?" Seth asked.

"I don't know." Punk said honestly, "You're right, she's not quite the mom I grew up with anymore. She's got secrets, big ones… ones she should have told us." He nodded.

"Things don't feel any different." Seth said, "I don't get why she couldn't tell me? It's not like Jack was ever a dad to me anyway. I've never had a dad so… telling me it's this guy or no, it's this guy… doesn't mean a damn thing. Why doesn't she get that?"

"I don't know." Punk said honestly.

"And if she's worried about our opinions on her cheating… she was with a guy who… cheated on her every chance he got." Seth said, "Surely she'd know we wouldn't hold it against her." He rolled his eyes.

"I don't know what's going on with her." Punk admitted honestly, "Just know that… nothing could come in between us. I wouldn't let it." He nodded.

"Yeah, I know that." Seth assured him, "I never even thought about us… whether we're step brothers, full brothers… whatever, it's just biology. I've been with you since I was a baby. You're my brother." He nodded as Punk smiled.

"I just wanted to come check on you, make sure you were ok." Punk nodded, "I left mom's because I… I ran out of things I could say. I think we all just need to cool off. Maybe she'll come knocking on your door."

"And should I even let her explain?" Seth asked, "It just seems like an unnecessary mess that could have been avoided."

"I know." Punk nodded, "Give it a few days." He said as Seth nodded.

"We just ordered a pizza." Seth said, "Pizza on thanksgiving. A sin." Seth shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm gonna grab something for me and Ape on the way home. I'm also on dessert duty for the girls." He said as Seth smiled, "You know where I am if you wanna talk." He nodded, "Come here." He waved as Seth stood up, wrapping his arms around his big brother who squeezed him tightly.

It wasn't the blood that made them brothers. Neither of them believed that. They only wished their mother didn't believe that either.

* * *

Punk left Seth's place shortly after. He was glad his brother was on higher spirits than he thought, it eased his mind a little better after such a chaotic day. He still wasn't quite sure what was going through his mother's head. It was puzzling to understand her thought process, but he was switching his head off from it for at least a night, where he could go home and enjoy time with his family.

He picked up food on the way home, but was confused when he pulled up at the house, noticing AJ's car wasn't parked up.

He got out of the car and walked to the door, unlocking it and walking into the house, looking around where it appeared no one was in.

"Ape!" Punk called, walking upstairs and looking in the rooms, but it was clear no one was home.

He headed back downstairs and pulled his phone out to give AJ a call when he noticed he had missed calls from the hospital as well as Eve who worked with AJ. He immediately got an empty feeling in his stomach as he called Eve.

"Hey, what's up?" Punk asked immediately when Eve picked up.

"Hey, Phil. You… You need to come down to the hospital. April's been in an accident with the girls."


	48. Loss

**Loss**

* * *

"What the hell happened? Where are they?" Punk rushed down the hospital corridor to meet Eve. He'd never been so scared in all his life.

"The girls are ok." Eve nodded, "They're up in my unit. Marty has a concussion and a few cuts. We're x-raying Kaia's wrist, we think it might be broken… but they're both ok." Eve assured him right away as Punk ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"And April? Where is she?" Punk asked, "Is she ok?"

"She's awake." Eve nodded, "Some cracked ribs and a concussion too." Eve said, "But she's doing fine."

"Thank God." Punk shook his head, placing his hand on his chest which was tightening by the second, "Which room is April in?"

"230 down the corridor." Eve pointed, "I'm not sure if they were gonna do more x-rays just to be sure of things." She said, "I'll go up and stay with the girls. They're doing good."

"I'll be up as soon as I see April." Punk nodded, making his way down the corridor. Hearing that his girls were ok was the biggest relief in the world. He'd never been so frightened in all his life. They were the three most important people in his life. They pretty much were his life.

He rushed down the corridor to AJ's room, noticing she wasn't in it, finding a doctor who was able to tell him that she had been taken for more x-rays.

"Do you have any idea when she'll be back?" Punk asked, standing in the room as the doctor headed over to the board which had AJ's files on it.

"She was taken ten minutes ago for an x-ray on her arm." The doctor noticed, "And then they're gonna do an ultrasound for the baby."

"What?" Punk shook his head as the doctor looked up, "What do you mean the baby?"

"Your wife is pregnant." The doctor noted on the files, assuming Punk would know such information.

"She is?" Punk questioned, "Are you… are you sure this is the right room?" Punk asked her.

"April Jeanette Brooks?" The doctor questioned as Punk raised his eyebrows, running his hand through his hair.

"She's pregnant?" Punk shook his head, "But she…"

"She just found out." The doctor nodded, "It's standard procedure before we gave her any drugs. Her doctor done some blood work on her and… well she's pregnant." The doctor nodded, "They're gonna do an ultrasound when she gets back."

"Holy shit." Punk whispered, "Is… Is she ok?"

"They suspect a few broken ribs and a mild concussion." The doctor said as Punk nodded.

"I'm uh… I'm gonna go check on my daughter's, they're upstairs. If April comes back just let her know I'm here and I'll be down to see her." He nodded.

"Ok." The doctor nodded as Punk left the room, heading for the stairs, trying to digest this new information.

They'd done a test at home which was negative. Neither thought anything about it since. He was completely taken back by this new information and his head was all over the place.

He reached the children's unit where AJ worked with Eve, and he was taken to a room where the girls were. They weren't set up in beds as their injuries weren't bad enough, but boy were they happy to see their father.

"Daddy!" Kaia exclaimed, running over to Punk as Marty stayed sitting on the bed.

"Hi." Punk gasped, crouching down and picking her up, squeezing her tightly and kissing her head as he walked over to the bed, sitting Kaia down and giving them both a tight squeeze, "Hey, my brave girls." He sighed with relief, kissing them both on the head repeatedly. He was so glad they were ok and weren't hurt too terribly.

"Daddy, look I got a bandage on my arm." Kaia smiled, "It's cool."

"It is cool." Punk nodded.

"And hey I got stitches." Marty pointed to her forehead which had gotten a little cut open and had to be stitched up.

"You two are… the bravest people I know." Punk shook his head. He couldn't believe they were still full of energy, laughing and smiling, even after getting into a car accident, "Are you both feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kaia shrugged.

"Eve told me to stay sitting because I'm… my little head is all woah." Marty explained to Punk as he nodded slowly.

"All woah?" Punk laughed a little. He assumed that was her translation for concussion, "Yeah, baby. You just stay sitting right now."

"We get colouring books in here, daddy. Look." Kaia showed Punk what they had been getting up to.

"Looks good." Punk smiled as Eve walked into the room.

"Hi Eve." Kaia waved as Eve smiled.

"Can I borrow your daddy for just a second, girls?" She asked them as Marty glared at her a little.

"You have to give him back, Eve." Marty told her.

"Oh, I will." Eve nodded as Punk smiled, walking out of the room with Eve.

"Have you gave them drugs?" Punk raised a brow.

"Surprisingly, no." Eve smiled, "They're doing good. They were brought in on foot, April was a little more woozy. Things look fine, Phil." Eve assured him. It was a bad car accident for sure but the girls, including AJ, were very lucky to not have sustained any severe injuries.

"But what the hell happened?" Punk asked, "Did… Did someone hit them? Did April crash it?"

"You'll have to talk to the police. I'm not sure." Eve told him.

"I've just been told April is pregnant." Punk shook his head as Eve raised her eyebrows, "I didn't know… she didn't know." He said, placing his hands on his hips.

"Oh, wow." Eve raised her eyebrows, "Well, congratulations."

"Today has been… a lot to take in." He admitted truthfully as Eve nodded.

"I can stay with the girls up here if you wanna go to April. They've been fine just colouring in. Asking the nurses for cookies and juice boxes." Eve smiled as Punk nodded.

"Making themselves at home?" Punk nodded.

"Yeah, why not." Eve smiled, "They're good up here, you can go to April."

"Yeah, I'll go back down. They were still doing more x-rays." Punk nodded, "And then… then they were gonna do an ultrasound." He said as Eve nodded.

"You go be there with her. The girls will be fine up here, I promise." Eve nodded.

"Thank you." Punk nodded. It was good to have a familiar face around to assure him and stay with the girls. He wished he could have split himself in two and been there for the girls and AJ. It just appeared that AJ might have needed him more right now.

He made his way back down to AJ's room where she was back in after getting some more x-rays. He was so relieved to see her beautiful face.

"Hey." Punk sighed with relief as AJ looked over at him. She'd been so scared and all she'd wanted was to see his face, to feel that comfort and safety that only he could give her.

"Hi." AJ frowned as Punk made his way over to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly as she rested her head into his shoulder.

"You're ok." Punk assured her softly, "The girls are ok. They're… They're up colouring in and eating cookies." Punk nodded as AJ smiled tearfully. She'd gotten such a fright when she woke up in an ambulance. All she could remember was driving along the dark road when lights suddenly came straight for her.

"Phil, I'm pregnant." AJ gulped, "They… They just told me. I… I had no idea-"

"I know. I know, one of the doctors told me." Punk nodded, "It's… it's ok, we'll figure it out." He said. He didn't want her to worry about anything, "How are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

"Just my ribs. I don't… I don't really remember anything. The crash. But… if my ribs are broken then I must have… my mid-section…" She worried, placing her hand over her stomach as Punk gulped.

"It's ok. They're gonna do an ultrasound." Punk said, taking her hand, watching as her doctor came through the door.

"Ok, April. Let's take a look at this baby." The doctor smiled as AJ sat up a little. She was in a lot of pain with her ribs, but apart from that, she was feeling ok.

"Once I have this can I go see my daughters?" AJ asked desperately. She just wanted to see her babies in the flesh, to cuddle them and see that they were safe and healthy.

"You've got a concussion so we'll keep you steady for a couple of hours. You should be able to go home tonight, though." The doctor smiled as AJ nodded. That was definitely a positive.

AJ rolled her t-shirt up an watched as the doctor squeezed some gel on her stomach. It wasn't like the first ultrasounds she had with Kaia and Marty. There was definitely a lot of concern in the room, and she could feel Punk's hand gripping on hers tighter and tighter.

"H-How far am I?" AJ wondered as the doctor moved the probe around.

"Just give me a little minute." The doctor smiled pleasantly, running the probe around slowly as AJ and Punk looked over at the machine.

It seemed to be taking an awful long time for her doctor to come to a conclusion, and it was then where AJ realised there was no point in asking how far along she was.

"Is everything ok?" Punk asked, a little scared to know the answer, watching as the doctor turned to them, placing the probe down. Her face really told them everything they needed to know.

"There's no heartbeat." The doctor shook her head as AJ tilted her head, looking at the black and white screen, "I'm so sorry." She sighed as Punk ran his hand through his hair and looked down.

"How far along was I?" AJ questioned.

"About nine weeks." The doctor sighed as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"And it was… it was the accident?" AJ nodded slowly whilst Punk stayed quiet.

"It's possible." The doctor nodded, "The impact must have been very strong and given your position behind the wheel… I'm… I'm terribly sorry." She shook her head as AJ nodded slowly, "I can give you a minute." She said as AJ nodded, watching as the doctor left the room respectably.

Punk looked up, watching AJ as she sat staring at the machine which didn't have any image of a baby on it. He was devastated. Heartbroken. It was a gut-wrenching feeling.

"Well… that's that." AJ whispered to herself quietly, still in shock as she pulled her hand away from Punks to fidget with hers.

"I'm sorry." Punk shook his head as AJ looked down, shaking her head, trying to remain strong. She wondered how something she'd known about for an hour could mean so much to her, to the point where she felt so empty and broken at the news they had just received.

"It's fine." AJ shook her head, looking down. She knew if she looked up at him, she'd start crying. She wanted to cry. She felt like crying.

Punk could see her eyes teary, watching as she rubbed a tear away from her cheek, as if ashamed to be crying. He stood up from the chair and sat down on the bed beside her, pulling her into him as she began to cry, sobbing into his chest as he held her tightly, kissing her head and resting back against the bed with her.


	49. Going Back

**Going Back**

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Punk shook his head, meeting Tony outside of the hospital later on that night.

"Well it was a hit and run." Tony nodded as Punk ran his hands over his face, "When we got to the scene, it was only April's car. Marty and Kaia were ok so they got took to the hospital in a car. April was unconscious, must have hit her head off the wheel." Tony said, "So she went in an ambulance. From what we saw, a car just came straight at her. All the damage is to the front of the car which is probably why the girls weren't harmed so much." Tony said as Punk nodded.

"Anyone see anything? You got any tips or witnesses?" Punk asked.

"We're working on it." Tony nodded.

"Work faster." Punk spat, "The crash happened hours ago." He shook his head angrily as Tony looked at him.

"How is April doing?" Tony asked as Punk sighed.

Considering he had sat with his wife in a hospital bed whilst she cried for an hour, he wasn't sure he felt like answering Tony truthfully. He figured the less people that knew about the baby, the easier it would be to deal with, and he knew AJ would feel the same.

"She's ok." Punk nodded, "Few broken ribs and a concussion. Same with the girls. Marty has a stitch in her head and a little concussion. Kaia the same." Punk said.

"Lucky girls, all three of them." Tony nodded, "Glad they're all safe." He placed his hand on Punk's shoulder, "They getting out tonight?"

"Yeah, they're being discharged tonight. Just running over a few tests with April and then we can go." Punk nodded.

"It's an annoying question but… do you have any idea who would want to do this? Come crashing at your wife and kids like that and then drive off?" He asked.

"First person that comes to mind is my dad." Punk nodded, "After that, I don't know."

"Why would your dad want to do this?" Tony asked.

"Because he's a bastard. That's why." Punk said, "But… I don't even know where he could be." He shook his head. His first instinct was to blame his father. After the day they'd had, watching his father unveil utter chaos in the afternoon at dinner, he only assumed he could follow it up with something so evil like this.

"We'll look into it." Tony nodded, "Just go be there for your family and I'll contact you with anything-"

"No, I'm coming back." Punk nodded, "I'm coming back to work and I'm looking into this." He said. He'd gone from being so heartbroken and devastated by the events of today, that he was now simply angry and enraged that someone had done this to his wife and daughters.

"Phil, I think you should take it easy. You're still pretty banged up and you need to be there for the girls." Tony nodded.

"I will be. I can do some work from home, back and forth." Punk said, "Someone raced head first into my wife and kids. I could have lost all three of them." He said, "I'm finding the son of a bitch who did this." He made clear as Tony nodded slowly. He knew there was no stopping Punk once he made a decision.

"Ok, but just… just take it easy." Tony said, "We're working on it and we'll keep you posted. Just go be with your family." He said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, ok, man. I'll see you later." Punk nodded, walking back into the hospital, heading for AJ's room where he saw her standing up, "Hey, you ok?" He asked her, walking into the room as she nodded.

"Yeah, that's me…. I can leave now." AJ nodded.

"Ok." Punk nodded, "Ok, I'll go get the girls."

"Where did you go?" AJ asked him.

"Tony was here. I was just asking him if they found anything yet." Punk nodded.

"And have they?" AJ asked.

"No, nothing." Punk shook his head, "And I didn't say anything about the baby. I… I didn't know if you wanted to-"

"No." AJ shook her head, "What's the point?" She shook her head as Punk looked at her, "Just go get the girls." AJ nodded to him, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Ok." Punk nodded softly, leaving the room and heading up to get the girls. He could see how devastated his wife was. He could see she was still in shock too and it broke him that he couldn't do anything to help this situation.

He collected the girls and headed back downstairs, meeting AJ outside her room where she was waiting.

"Mommy." Marty smiled happily, running ahead to get to her mother as Kaia followed.

"Hi, my babies." AJ sighed, painfully crouching down and catching them both in her arms, closing her eyes and squeezing them tightly. She was so thankful they were ok. Holding them in her arms made her feel so much better already, "My brave babies." She cupped their cheeks.

"Got stitches." Marty pointed.

"I see." AJ smiled, "Let's get home, ok?" She nodded. She wanted nothing more than her babies tucked into bed safely.

"Yeah, I'm tired. Daddy carry me." Marty lifted her hands up as Punk nodded, lifting Marty up into his arms as she rested her head on his shoulder whilst AJ took Kaia's hand as they began to leave the hospital.

"You ok?" Punk turned to AJ.

"No." AJ whispered honestly as he nodded, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her head. It was such a horrible feeling to know they had lost something that could have meant so much, and he couldn't imagine how AJ felt with it physically happening to her. Everything felt extremely cloudy.

* * *

Punk drove home and took Marty and Kaia straight to bed, putting them in their rooms. Marty had already fallen asleep in the car and Kaia was also starting to drift off so it wasn't a hard task getting them to bed.

He left the girls bedroom, rubbing his neck and walking into he and AJ's room where he saw AJ lying in bed, curled into the covers, "Can I get you anything?" Punk asked her softly. He wasn't sure if there was something he could give her to help.

"Can you get me a hot water bottle, please?" AJ nodded, "And more meds." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Punk said, "What about a drink or… or something to eat?"

"Just water." AJ nodded, "I'm not hungry."

"Ok." Punk said, leaving the bedroom and heading downstairs. He didn't want her to see how angry he had become. All he could do was be there for her and support her through this difficult time. It felt even worse to know that this wasn't just an accident. There was no way it could have been.

He headed downstairs and quickly got what AJ had requested, making his way back upstairs and into their bedroom, closing the door over behind him.

"Thank you." AJ smiled softly, sitting up and taking the hot water bottle from him as well as the pills and water.

"You need anything else?" Punk asked her.

"No, I'm ok." AJ assured him as he nodded, making his way round his side of the bed and sitting down beside her, "So I was pregnant." She whispered to herself as Punk turned to her, "I was pregnant and I… I was relieved when it was negative." AJ turned to him as Punk sighed.

"Don't think of it like that-"

"This is what I get." She shrugged.

"Hey, no… no, don't you say that." Punk shook his head, "You've done nothing wrong." Punk said as AJ sighed.

"I'm scared to go to the bathroom." AJ admitted truthfully as Punk nodded, "I was nine weeks." She shook her head in disbelief. She was still in shock about what was going on and what they had lost. She always heard about miscarriages and women losing babies but she never once thought she would be in that position. It was such an upsetting feeling.

"I wish there was something I could do." Punk nodded.

"There's nothing." AJ whispered, taking his hand, "And that's ok." She nodded, "I'm just… I'm glad we're ok. Kaia and Marty are ok." She said. She had to think of how lucky they were that nothing had happened to them in the accident.

"I got home and… and no one was here and then I got my phone out and I had missed calls from Eve and the hospital. I was so scared." Punk admitted as AJ nodded.

"What was Tony saying?" AJ asked him.

"Just that they were working on it. Seeing if there was any witnesses or tips made. The way your car was hit… someone was driving straight for you." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I remember driving and… and Marty was asking me about the ribbons in her hair. I saw lights in the distance but I mean… I assumed they were on the other side of the road obviously, didn't think much of it." AJ nodded, "Before I knew it the car was coming right down my lane and I had nowhere to swerve and if I did then the car would have gone straight into the side, where the girls were, so… I just remember gripping the wheel and closing my eyes." AJ shook her head as Punk held her hand and nodded.

"There was nothing else you could do." Punk nodded, "You're right, we just gotta be so glad that you're all ok. The girls are ok and…" He was reluctant to say that AJ was ok, because he could see how badly she was hurting right now, emotionally more than anything, "We'll get through this." He nodded.

"Did you talk to Seth?" AJ asked, trying to divert her mind. There was so much going on inside her head. Knowing that someone had deliberately crashed into her was terrifying, and it was exhausting to deal with yet another problem, and even worse, to have lost something so important in the process.

"Yeah, I did. He's surprisingly good. He's not bummed out or upset about it. I mean I told him, we're brothers always, not because of blood or biology." He said, "He seemed ok about it but… I think he's questioning my mom, about a lot of things. And I don't blame him."

"I don't think we have the full story." AJ whispered, "Between you and me."

"You reckon?" Punk asked her.

"Something as simple for her to sit Seth down and tell him about this, she would have done it years ago. Especially when it would have prevented Jack from holding anything over her head." AJ said, "Gotta be something else."

"Like what, though?" Punk shrugged.

"I don't know." AJ sighed, not having the energy to think hard enough, "That's another medical bill for us to pay." AJ nodded to herself.

"Hey, don't think about that." Punk shook his head, "We're doing ok."

"We're not really." AJ shook her head truthfully.

"Well I'm gonna go back to work." Punk nodded, "I'm gonna help Tony find the bastard who drove into you." He said as AJ looked at him.

She was hurt that he thought now was the best time to return to work. She'd never needed him more. She couldn't even get the words out to tell him how hurt she was by him thinking that, so she chose to blank it out and just simply nod.

"Ok." AJ whispered, leaning into him and lying down, resting her head on his lap and closing her eyes, "Ok." She nodded as he stroked her cheek. She just wanted to close her eyes and forget about absolutely everything.


	50. Difficult

**Difficult**

* * *

"Phil." AJ sighed, walking out of the bathroom the next morning, teary eyed as she paused, looking on at the empty bedroom. She'd been in their bathroom for over an hour, mostly crying, with physical and emotional pain. She thought when she got out her husband would be waiting to give her a hug but he didn't appear to be there.

"Phil?" AJ called again, leaving the bedroom and noticing the girls were gone from their rooms. She walked downstairs slowly, holding her ribs and reaching the bottom finally. She then poked her head into the living room where Marty and Kaia were sat eating cereal.

They had messy bed hair and were still in their pyjamas, half asleep watching a cartoon with their cereal quietly.

"Hey, you two." AJ whispered, walking through to the living room as the girls looked up, "You ok?" She asked them. Every time she looked at them she just felt so lucky that they hadn't been harmed badly. She knew things could have been a whole lot different, and for that she was thankful.

"Hi mommy." Marty whispered.

"Hi." Kaia replied, keeping her eyes on the cartoon they were watching. They weren't morning people. They normally needed an hour or so to sit with a cartoon and wake up properly.

"Hey, where did daddy go?" AJ asked them.

"He had his work outfit on." Marty told her as AJ nodded slowly, "He… He gave us our cereal and then he left." She said as AJ nodded slowly.

"Ok." AJ nodded to herself, "How are you guys feeling?" She asked them, sitting back on the couch and comforting herself with a cushion.

"I'm fine." Kaia told her mother, unbothered.

"Me too." Marty nodded, "Are you fine too?" She questioned, looking up at AJ who nodded and forced a smile.

"I'm fine." AJ smiled, brushing her hand through her messy hair, "What cereal you got?" She asked them.

"Apple Jacks because mommy, we were out of cap n crunch." Kaia told her mother unhappily, "We need some more."

"We'll get more." AJ promised. She almost felt like she was drunk or high. Her head was in the clouds, and that was without the pain medication. She was just so devastated by miscarrying their baby, and what she really needed was her husband.

* * *

"This is the car?" Punk asked, arriving at the scene with Tony where they had found the suspected car which had drove into AJ. Last night Tony had spoken to a witness and they also had many tips called in about a wrecked car driving around late last night. They'd finally found it dumped in empty parking lot.

"Looks like it. Fits the description from the tips." Tony nodded, "Plus, all the damage is on the front." He said, "Well get forensics out to get the specs."

"You got gloves?" Punk asked Tony.

"In my car." Tony nodded as Punk walked over to the car to grab some. He couldn't wait on forensics. It felt strange being back in his uniform and back on the job. It didn't really feel like he was back officially, because yet again, it was something so personal he was dealing with.

"I'm just gonna take a look around." Punk told him as Tony nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Tony said as Punk made his way over to the car, opening up the door and looking in the glove compartment as well as the sides of the doors, giving the car a thorough check, "Anything?" Tony asked.

"No. Pretty empty." Punk nodded.

"Check the trunk." Tony said as Punk walked around to the back, opening up the trunk and looking in with confusion, "What's that?" He asked.

"It's a folder." Punk picked it up, "With my mom's name on it." He turned to Tony who shook his head with confusion, "Have these plates been ran yet?" He asked.

"No, they're working on it back at the station." Tony said, "What's in the folder?"

"Nothing." Punk showed Tony, opening up the folder. It was a very specific kind of folder. Like a case folder they would find in the station from past cases. And it gave him chills to find this in this car.

"Any idea why that would be there?" Tony questioned.

"An empty case file with my mom's name on it? No, I have no idea." Punk shook his head as Tony nodded.

"We'll give it to forensics to run." Tony said.

"Let's get back and see if they've got a run of the plates yet." Punk nodded.

"Wait, Phil." Tony paused as Punk turned around, "I know you wanna push forward with this and you want to find this out for yourself but… I got this, you don't have to be here." Tony said.

"I do. Plus, it's time I came back anyway, I need the money." Punk said.

"Ok, but… maybe your wife and your daughter's need you more right now." Tony suggested.

"The kids are good, and April… I think she just needs some space." Punk figured. He really truly believed to himself that his wife needed space from him. He wasn't thinking straight of course, but that's what he believed, that's what he wanted to believe.

"I don't think you should be here so soon. Even just spend a couple days at home-"

"We need the money." Punk said, "April's gonna be off for the week and we… we got bills to pay." Punk said, "I should be here, and I want to find out who the fuck is doing this." He nodded as Tony put his hands up.

"Ok, man." Tony nodded, "It's your call."

* * *

AJ had spent the entire day on the couch with the girls, only leaving to go to the bathroom and to get more medication. For some reason, the day felt worse than yesterday, every time she went to the bathroom she just sat and cried. It was the worst feeling in the world, even worse with no one to talk to about it.

"You girls want some dinner?" AJ asked. She was lying on the couch with Marty curled into her like a little bear cub, whilst Kaia sat at the bottom of the couch with Bruno. If there was one thing she was so grateful for, it was the hugs and comfort her babies were giving her.

"I don't know what I want." Marty admitted. They were all very tried and had spent the day lazing on the couch watching movies and cartoons. If anything, AJ was just glad the girls were getting good rest after the events of yesterday.

"Me neither." Kaia added, "When is daddy coming home?" She asked.

"I don't know." AJ said truthfully.

"I think I want cookies for dinner." Marty nodded as AJ laughed a little.

"You can't have cookies for dinner, puddin." AJ smiled.

"I think I can." Marty said.

"Come on, let's go see what we can make." AJ nodded, getting up from the couch and taking the girls into the kitchen to find something to have for dinner.

She managed to rustle up some chicken pasta for them and sat at the table with them whilst they ate. She took that time to look at their finance, as she assumed their medical bills had obviously gone up after last night.

Things had been going on the right track. They were managing to pay back different debts and overdrafts after AJ had gone back to work, but it appeared to have fallen down a slippery slope again.

"What's that, mommy?" Kaia asked, wondering what all the papers were.

"It's just mommy and daddy things." AJ nodded.

"Is that homework for mommy and daddy?" Marty questioned, "Like Kaia gets homework."

"Yeah, you know what… it kinda is like homework." AJ nodded, "How is the pasta?"

"Nice." Marty nodded, "I still want cookies, though." She huffed.

"We can make cookies tomorrow." AJ promised, looking down at the bills and sighing.

* * *

"So they got nothing on the plates?" Dean asked Punk, driving home to drop him off after his shift.

"No, well they're still working on it." Punk nodded.

"But what's the deal with that folder with your mom's name on it? Why would that be in the car?" Dean asked.

"It's obviously there for me to see it." Punk said, "It's gotta be my dad, right?"

"Looks like it." Dean said, "Maybe you could talk to your mom, ask her about the folder and… if she knows anything about it."

"I think everyone is pretty much staying clear of my mom right now. I don't know what to believe from her anymore." He admitted as Dean nodded.

"You guys are taking it pretty rough right now, huh?" Dean sighed. It was like they couldn't catch a break.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Punk ran his hands over his face.

"Maybe work isn't the best place for you right now. You should be with the girls at home." Dean nodded.

"I need the money, Dean." Punk said truthfully, "We're not exactly in the best financial place right now." He said, "With me being off and April was working part-time, we've got debt, we've got overdrafts." He rolled his head back against the car seat.

"Bad?" Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, pretty bad." Punk nodded, "It was going ok. We were paying things back. April was going full-time and I was almost ready to come back but… we've got another medical bill to pay now-"

"Hey, if you need any money… just ask." Dean assured him.

"No… No, we'll be fine." Punk shook his head. He was way too proud to take money from anyone, "It's ok. I'm back at work so I got more income and Ape won't be off for too long." Punk nodded, "We'll be ok." He nodded to himself as Dean pulled up outside the house.

"How is April?" Dean asked.

"She's still shaken up." Punk nodded, "I think she just needs some space on her own right now. The girls are good."

"You're lucky. They're lucky." Dean said as Punk nodded, "You going back in tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah, hopefully by then we'll know who that car is registered to. I might look into my mom on the system and see… see if she has any sort of record." Punk shrugged, "I'm assuming that's why the folder was there."

"Yeah." Dean nodded, "Yeah, ok man. Well I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Thanks for the ride." Punk nodded, getting out of the car and heading into the house.

He knew the girls would be in bed, but he assumed his wife would still be awake. He closed the door over behind him and locked it up, walking through to the kitchen where he saw AJ standing washing a few dishes.

"Hey." Punk said softly as AJ turned to him and nodded.

"Hi." AJ said quietly.

"How you feeling?" Punk asked her as AJ looked down at the dishes she was watching. She had no energy, no feelings or emotion to use on him.

"Fine." AJ told him bluntly, "I was actually just going to bed." AJ told him, drying her hands.

"How were the girls?" Punk asked her.

"They were fine. They're in bed." AJ nodded, turning around to him, "Can you lock up before you come up?" She asked him as Punk nodded.

"Hey, are you sure you're ok?" Punk asked, taking her hand as she looked up at him. Of course she wasn't ok. She wasn't sure if he was just avoiding the situation because it was too hard.

"I'm fine, Phil." AJ shook her head, taking her hand back slowly, "Did you find anything?"

"We found the car." Punk nodded, "The plates are still being run and I found a folder in the trunk, with my mom's name on it. Like a case file. But it was empty."

"Your mom's name?" AJ questioned as Punk nodded, "Why on earth?"

"I have no idea." Punk sighed, "Probably gonna have to talk to her about it. At this point… it's gotta be my dad." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, well I wouldn't doubt that." AJ nodded, "I'm gonna… go to bed." She told him, "Goodnight." She nodded as Punk watched her leave the kitchen and head upstairs.


	51. Bust Up

**Bust Up**

* * *

AJ woke up the next morning, turning around in bed and seeing the space empty beside her. She sighed to herself and shook her head, walking off into the bathroom to have a shower and get ready.

She got herself ready as best she could and took Kaia to school, who was very excited to tell everyone she was in a car accident for some strange reason. AJ thought it was good that they were so brave and unbothered by it all, though. They weren't losing sleep like her, that was for sure.

She then drove back home with Marty and made them both some breakfast. She was feeling all that hungry and was struggling to keep her appetite, but Marty's sure wasn't lost.

She was about to clear up the plates when there was a knock at the door. She made her way down the hallway and opened it up to see Seth standing.

"Hey." Seth shook his head, wrapping his arms around her tightly as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Hi." AJ replied, hugging him back.

"I wanted to come over yesterday but… Becky said you might want a day resting." Seth nodded, "And I was gonna come to the hospital but by the time I found out, you were getting out soon anyway."

"It's ok." AJ smiled.

"Are you ok? Are the girls ok? Phil dropped me a call and told me you guys were doing good so…"

"We're all good." AJ assured him, "Bumped and bruised. I have a few broken ribs but apart from that…" She paused. She desperately wanted to tell him about the miscarriage, just so she could talk to someone about it. It wasn't like she got the chance to talk with her husband at the minute.

"You guys are lucky." Seth sighed with relief, "Is Phil here?"

"No, he's at work." AJ shrugged, walking through to the kitchen as Seth could see the look on AJ's face. An unhappy, an angry look.

"Work?" Seth questioned as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, he's… he's trying to find out who crashed into us." AJ nodded.

"Hi uncle Seth." Marty waved as Seth walked into the kitchen with AJ.

"Hey, you." Seth smiled, messing with the top of her hair, "What you having for breakfast?"

"A bagel." Marty smiled, "My favourite."

"I thought your favourite was pancakes?" Seth questioned as AJ smiled.

"No that's my second favourite. Maybe." Marty wondered to herself.

"Baby why don't you go finish it in the living room? Finish watching your cartoons?" AJ suggested.

"Ok, mommy." Marty smiled, hopping off the chair and taking her food from the table, "Come on, Bruno. Let's go." She called on their dog who followed her off into the living room.

"How have the girls been?" Seth asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"They are so unbothered by it all." AJ nodded, "It's great." She admitted, "Kaia's at school and she was so excited to go show her bandage to everyone. She's got a little sprain in her wrist so the hospital gave her a bandage." AJ shrugged.

"Showing off the wounds, huh?" Seth laughed a little, "Well, better that than them crying or being scared." Seth nodded.

"Yeah, exactly." AJ nodded, "How are you? After thanksgiving at your moms?" She asked, making herself more coffee and sitting down at the table with him.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Seth shrugged, "It is what it is. It… it really makes no difference." Seth said.

"It's still a lie you've been told." AJ said.

"I know." Seth said, "I don't know where my mom's head is at." Seth shook his head.

"She's got a lot of secrets." AJ nodded, "I don't think we've even heard the full story." She admitted.

"You don't?" Seth questioned.

"No, it just… it doesn't make sense. If she knew this was information that Jack could hold over her head when he got out, why wouldn't she have just told you before? Like you said, it doesn't make a difference to your life. It's not like you've ever had a father figure so… telling you it's this person, or no it's not, it's this person-"

"Exactly, that's what I said to Phil." Seth said, "I don't know what's going on." He admitted truthfully.

"Well it's most likely Jack that crashed into me." AJ nodded, "And Phil said he found a folder in the trunk of the car with your mom's name on it." She shrugged, "God knows what the hell is going on." She said.

"In the car that ran into you?" Seth questioned.

"Yeah, they found it at some parking lot. They're trying to run the plates for it and I guess forensics are looking at it." AJ said as Seth nodded.

"I didn't think Phil would be back at work." Seth admitted.

"Yeah, well me neither." AJ nodded as Seth looked at her.

"You guys ok?" He wondered, watching as AJ looked down, staring at her coffee, "Hey, what's going on?" He asked, sensing something was wrong.

"When I got taken into hospital… they told me I was pregnant." AJ looked up at him as Seth raised his eyebrows.

"Oh." Seth nodded, "Was pregnant?" He sighed.

"I lost the baby." She whispered as Seth sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"Oh, April." Seth sighed, standing up and leaning down, wrapping his arms around her, "I'm so sorry." He kissed the side of her head as AJ took the hug in, "I'm sorry." He repeated. It was the only thing he could think of saying.

"I'm ok… really." AJ nodded to herself as Seth pulled back, "I'm doing ok." She nodded as Seth sighed, sitting down beside her.

"Phil should be here." Seth shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I think so too." AJ said, "Work is… obviously more important." She shrugged.

"You know he doesn't think." Seth said, "He's probably… upset too." He nodded, "You know my brother. He's pretty hard to read."

"I needed him here." AJ nodded.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Seth asked.

"No… no, that will just make it worse." AJ said, "He needs to realise on his own."

"You know he's probably just trying to distract himself." Seth said as AJ nodded, "I can talk to him if you want me to."

"No, it's ok." AJ shook her head, "We decided we weren't gonna tell anyone but… I… I need to talk to someone." She said, "Everything was so perfect a year ago." She nodded, "There was no serial killers after us, your mom wasn't lying about everything, there was no Jack, no people crashing into me and my daughters, I… wasn't losing a baby." She sighed, massaging her head as Seth nodded.

"It fucking sucks." Seth nodded, "Life. It can be fucking horrible sometimes." He said, "But there will be some light at the end of the tunnel. Like Norman. I bet back then you thought it would ever get better. And then you went on and got married and had kids, made a good life for yourself." He said as AJ nodded.

"I know he's angry." AJ nodded, "That's why he's out working with Tony, trying to find something. I mean he thinks it's Jack but… I guess they're covering all bases." She said as Seth nodded.

"Talk to him." Seth said, "Tell him that you need him here. You're not wrong to do that. Not with what you're going through." He said.

"I just wish he'd realise that on his own." AJ shook her head, "I shouldn't have to ask him."

"I know. And I'm not justifying it. He should be here." Seth agreed, "But our heads are all so far up our own asses right now. Just give him a little nudge and let him know." He nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Thanks." She smiled as Seth nodded.

"You're gonna be ok." Seth assured her, "I promise." He smiled as AJ nodded, "Anything I can do…"

"I'm ok." AJ nodded, "Thank you."

* * *

Punk got home later that night after being at the station all day. He was so focused, so angry, so protective of his family that he wasn't stopping until he found out the truth about what was going on.

He got in the door and heard the TV on in the living room, walking on in where he saw AJ lying up on the couch with a blanket.

"Hey." Punk smiled softly, leaning over and kissing her as AJ pecked him, unbothered, "How you feeling?" He asked her, sitting down on the edge of the couch beside her, placing his hand on her thigh as AJ looked at him.

"I'm ok." AJ shrugged. She wondered why he couldn't see that she wasn't ok. Normally he knew her so well. He knew when the slightest thing was wrong with her. She figured he was trying his best to not see she was hurting, "You're late. Girls missed you at bedtime." She whispered.

"I know. I know, I'm sorry babe." Punk sighed.

"It's them you apologise to." AJ whispered, looking over at the TV, "You find anything?"

"No, shitty day." Punk shook his head as AJ looked at him. She wondered if she described to him what was going on with her right now, would he really be complaining about his shitty day, "Couldn't get the plates on the car ran and when I searched up my mom's name in the system, nothing came up… and I tried to track my dad down somehow but… came up short." Punk shook his head, "Try again tomorrow I guess."

"Is there… any chance you could stay here tomorrow? With me?" She asked him as he turned around, "I could use the company."

"Uh… I… I promised Tony I would be at work." Punk nodded to her.

"Is Tony miscarrying your baby?" AJ questioned calmly as Punk looked at her, watching as she removed his hand from her side, "Fine. Go to work." She shrugged, throwing the blanket off of her and standing up.

"April." Punk shook his head.

"No, it's fine." AJ nodded, walking out of the living room as Punk followed her.

"Hey, I know this is tough and-"

"You know?" AJ questioned, "You know this is tough?" She asked, "You know what's tough… losing our baby on my own." AJ said tearfully as Punk looked across at her, "Waking up in the morning in my own blood and just… just wanting a hug from my husband." She nodded, "That's tough." She admitted.

"April, I-"

"No. No, screw you for this." AJ spat, "I've been here on my own dealing with this, whilst taking care of the girls." She said, "What-what are you doing? Are you trying to avoid me? Is that it?"

"No, no… I'm just… I just wanna know why someone tried to hurt you-"

"There is a full police station of cops, Phil." AJ placed her hands in her head, "I need you here. They don't need you there."

"I thought you needed space." Punk shook his head.

"Space? You think I want to go through this alone?" AJ questioned.

"No, of course not. I thought… I thought you just needed a bit of space and I know we need the money." He said.

"Oh screw the money, Phil." AJ threw her hands up in the air.

"I wish it was as easy as saying that, April but we have kids, we have bills to pay, debt to get out of." He reminded her.

"Don't worry, I'm aware." AJ nodded, "But staying at home with me for one week, or even just a few days, I'm sure it really wouldn't make a difference." She said as Punk looked across at her and sighed.

"I'm trying to find the son of a bitch who did this to you in the first place." Punk defended.

"Oh, it was your evil dad. Of course it was." AJ said, "You don't need to figure anything out. It was him." She said as Punk looked at her.

"We don't know for sure." Punk shook his head.

"Of course it was him. And he probably still has more leverage over your mom and that's what she isn't telling us. Leaving that folder in the trunk proves that." AJ said, "I don't care about any of it, Phil." She shrugged as Punk looked at her, "I cared about you being here and it seems like you couldn't have gotten away quicker-"

"That's not true." Punk shook his head.

"Yes it is." AJ nodded, "I know that maybe you don't know what to say. It's not like you can fix it or say anything to make it better. But just hug me. Hold me. Talk to me and tell me that… that even though we lost this baby, we'll be ok." She nodded as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "But you know, if work is more important… whatever." She shrugged, about to leave the kitchen as he took her hand, keeping her back.

"Nothing is more important than you and the girls." Punk shook his head, "And you know that." He said, "That's why I'm trying to get the son of a bitch who did this… even if it is my dad."

"I'm losing this baby now. Not next week. Not in a month. It's happening now. Now is when I need you." She nodded, "Just don't think about yourself for once."

"So now I'm selfish for wanting to protect you?" Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, because it's what you want. You want to go find out who did this and that's what you're doing. No regard to what's going on around you." AJ said.

"Don't you think I'm thinking about what you're going through?" Punk screwed his face up, "It's all I'm thinking about. And you're right. I can't fix it and that kills me." Punk told her honestly.

"Then just be there for me, Phil." AJ cried, "How hard is it? You're always there for me." She said, taking her hand from his and drying her tears.

"I want to make sure you're safe. You and the girls. I want to get this bastard in prison-"

"I I I." AJ repeated, "It's a common theme."

"Oh, stop." Punk shook his head.

"No, you stop. Look around you." AJ spat, "Your family need you. The cops don't."

"It's not about the cops. You think I've gone back because I want to work? Because I wanna hang out with all my buddies and enjoy my job again? I wish." Punk nodded.

"No, you're there for the money and to find out who crashed into us. I get it." AJ nodded, "Forget I asked." She shrugged, walking away.

"You're just gonna walk away and leave it like that?" Punk asked her.

"Pointless arguing with you." AJ said, "Sleep on the couch." She told him, walking out of the kitchen and walking upstairs as Punk groaned to himself, placing his hands over his face.


	52. Needed Me

**Needed Me**

* * *

"Hey, Tony. Yeah, look I can't… I can't come into work." Punk said, standing in the living room on his phone the next morning. The sun had barely come up and he had barely sleep. He wasn't stupid and he was no longer avoiding something he was so heartbroken by. Not after seeing how his wife felt last night. It was haunting him all night as he tossed and turned on the couch.

"I just gotta be at home right now with the girls and April." Punk nodded, "So hey, just… just call, text whatever, to let me know what's going on, if you find anything or whatever." Punk said, "Yeah, I'm ok." He nodded, not really convinced by his own claims.

After he called Tony, he left the house and got in his car, driving into town to pick up a few things whilst mentally thinking to himself what he could say to his wife to make this right. He knew he hadn't been there for her the way he should have been, and he hated himself for it. He knew it was an easy escape to disappear into work, and he knew it was wrong.

He parked his car and got out, walking into the coffee shop he had been going to for years, one he would regularly see April studying in during her time at med school.

He waited in the small line before finally being called next, realising the old waitress he used to talk to and… occasionally party with, was working at the shop again.

"Phil?" Lisa smiled, raising her eyebrows.

"Hey." Punk nodded, "I didn't know you were working here again." He shook his head.

"I just started back last week." Lisa nodded, "Extra cash. My dad was nice enough to give me the job back." She said as Punk smiled, "How have you been? It's been so long."

"I'm good." Punk smiled, "What about you?"

"I'm good too." Lisa smiled, checking his hand where she spotted the wedding ring, "No way." She grabbed his hand, "You got married?"

"And had kids." Punk nodded.

"Get out of here." Lisa laughed a little, "What's she like?" She asked.

"Uh… you remember April?" Punk asked, "My brother's best friend?" He questioned.

"Med school girl?" Lisa gasped, "You married her?"

"Yeah, I did." Punk nodded.

"I leave town and I miss that?" Lisa laughed as Punk nodded, "So no more parties for you then?" She asked.

"No more like building dolls houses and letting my kids do my hair." Punk shrugged, "It's surprisingly better than partying. Wouldn't change it for the world." He said as Lisa smiled.

"That's sweet. Well good for you." Lisa nodded as Punk smiled, "So what are you having?" She asked, "I assume it's not just a coffee like it used to be."

"No, there's a little more to my orders now." Punk assured her.

* * *

He eventually left the coffee shop, the donut shop and the flower shop before heading home. He walked in the door where he heard the girls in the kitchen, yelling and shouting to each other like the crazy kids they were.

"Hey, you two. What's with the shouting?" Punk walked into the kitchen.

"We're playing rock, paper scissors." Kaia told him, "Oh, did you get breakfast for us?" She questioned curiously as Marty gasped.

"Oh, daddy are those flowers for me?" Marty smiled sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"No." Punk scoffed, "What do you know about flowers?" He asked as Marty huffed, "Where is mommy?"

"Mommy told us she was showering and then she would be down to make us breakfast." Kaia told him.

"Ok." Punk nodded, "Well here's breakfast for you guys." He told them, taking out the breakfast bagels he'd got them both.

"Oo, a bagel." Marty smiled excitedly, "Please may I have a drink too?" She asked politely as Punk nodded, opening up the fridge.

"Apple or strawberry juice box?" Punk asked them.

"Strawberry."

"Apple."

"Ok, here." Punk got the two boxes out, passing them both to Kaia and Marty, "Hey, it's a nice morning out, why don't you guys go out and have that in the garden?" He asked, opening up the back door, letting Bruno outside.

"It's like you want rid of us." Kaia raised a brow unhappily.

"No, fresh air is good for you." Punk corrected her.

"Flies might get stuck on my bagel." Marty looked up at him with concern.

"Flies don't come out this early." Punk lied.

"Oh. Ok." Marty shrugged, jumping off her chair and running outside, "Bruno!" Marty called on her dog whilst Kaia stayed sitting.

"You're not going outside?" Punk asked.

"Maybe." Kaia said as Punk smiled. The best thing about raising two daughters, was getting to see them as miniature versions of his wife, who he loved and adored. It was the best thing in the world.

"Kaia!" Marty ran back into the kitchen, "Can you please come outside and talk to me." She demanded with an eye roll as Punk smiled.

"Fine." Kaia shrugged, "But I'll be back." She warned Punk as he put his hands up and nodded, watching them leave the kitchen and head back outside.

He put the flowers he'd gotten AJ into a vase, unpacking the breakfast wrap he'd gotten her that she always ate, as well as sitting the pack of donuts over which he knew she would destroy later. However, he knew donuts weren't going to make up for how he'd reacted… or simply not reacted.

He sat down at the table and waited as she eventually came downstairs in some sweat pants and one of his t-shirts. She didn't have her contacts in, instead wearing her glasses. It reminded him of when they were younger. He wasn't sure she understood just how much she really meant to him.

"I thought you had gone to work." AJ said, walking slowly into the kitchen as she looked over at the flowers, watching as he stood up, "Where are the girls?"

"They're out having breakfast. It's a nice morning." Punk nodded, "I called Tony and told him I'm not coming in."

"Well you don't need to do me any favours." AJ folded her arms, adjusting her glasses and looking over at him.

"I'm not. I should never have went back." He said, "It was a… a dick move. I wasn't thinking." He nodded, "And yeah, maybe part of me thought it was easier to run and hide. I just felt like I didn't know what to say to you."

"Phil… you didn't have to say anything to me. I didn't expect you to. Just… just sitting with me, watching a movie with me, being here with me was enough for me to feel a little better." AJ nodded, "I thought you'd realise that."

"I should have." Punk nodded, "I got caught up in my anger, trying to get the person who did this, whether it be my dad or not… I channelled all my emotions into that and I lost sight of where my head should have really been." He said, "I'm so sorry." He shook his head, "I'm so sorry you have to go through this. And I'm so sorry I've not been here." He said as AJ looked at him.

She looked across at him, fidgeting with her wedding ring and leaning back against the kitchen counter. She could see how desperately sorry he was. And she had a hunch that he had buried all his hurt and sadness into returning to work. She knew that's what he was doing. To avoid confronting what they had lost.

"It would have been easier if we just got through this together." AJ shrugged, "It sucks not being able to talk to you, you know."

"We can get through this together." Punk nodded, "I'm here. I'm here for you." He said, "I was just… I was so upset and hurt, hurt that you had to go through this-"

"It wasn't just my baby." She whispered as he nodded.

"I know." Punk nodded, "I just shut it all off and tried to focus on going back to work and I… I shouldn't have. I was trying to use it as a coping mechanism and escape from it." He said as AJ nodded. She could understand that.

"I wish I could escape it like that." AJ admitted, "Because this really sucks." She nodded tearfully as Punk sighed.

"I'm sorry." He shook his head, walking towards her as she nodded, "I'm so sorry I wasn't here."

"You're here now." AJ whispered, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest, taking a deep breath as he hugged her tightly. Just the simple hug he could give her was enough to give her a few minutes of comfort. That was what she needed these past couple of days, "This is what I needed." She told him as he nodded, kissing her head.

"I'm not gonna leave you." He promised, "We'll get through this." He nodded rubbing her back softly.

"You know so many men cheat after their wife has had miscarriage?" AJ asked him as he looked down at her.

"You think I'd do that to you?" He questioned.

"No." AJ shook her head.

"I'd be hurt if you even thought about it." Punk admitted honestly, "I can… I can be a dick and I can make mistakes but I… I would never hurt you like that. You know that."

"I know." AJ nodded, "It is just a really shitty thing." She said, "To know that… something could have been." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk said, "It sucks but we'll be ok."

"We always are." AJ whispered, looking up at him as he nodded and smiled, cupping her cheek and leaning down, kissing her softly as she kissed back.

"I got you breakfast." He whispered against her lips as she smiled.

"I know I can smell it." AJ nodded between kissing him, "Good job I'm hungry." She nodded as he smiled.

"You wanna go outside and eat it? It's real nice out." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, sure." AJ smiled, walking over to the table, "These are beautiful." She nodded, looking on at the flowers. She had been extremely hurt by his lack of support, but she didn't blame him for wanting to escape from it. She was just glad he recognised it and made it right. He always made it right.

"Yeah, I thought they were nice colours." Punk nodded.

"They're beautiful." AJ smiled, "You take the breakfast outside and I'll put some water in these." She nodded as he smiled and left the kitchen with their breakfast, walking outside into their garden, over to the table where Kaia and Marty were.

"Oh, now he wants to have breakfast with us." Kaia raised a brow as Punk laughed a little.

"Well can I?" Punk asked them as they looked up at him.

"Hmm fine." Marty waved her hand as Punk nodded, sitting down at the table as AJ eventually came out to join them and have breakfast. It was the first time she felt like the sun was coming out. Literally and figuratively.

"Is Tony gonna call if he finds anything?" AJ asked Punk, sitting on his lap, finishing their coffee whilst the girls played on the grass with Bruno.

"Yeah, I told him just to call or text if he finds anything." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I did tell Seth about the baby yesterday." AJ told him as Punk looked at her, "I was upset with you not being there and I… I just needed to tell someone, talk to someone." She said as Punk nodded.

"I'm sorry. I… I hate myself for this." He said.

"You're here now." AJ said, "I don't blame you for wanting to avoid it all. It's horrible. I never thought we'd lose a baby. You just don't imagine those kind of things. I mean… why would you?" She said as Punk nodded.

"It's a horrible feeling." Punk nodded.

"We just… we gotta be thankful that we're all safe. The girls are ok." AJ nodded, looking over at Kaia and Marty doing cartwheels on the grass as Punk laughed a little.

"Until they break their necks doing a cartwheel." Punk nodded as AJ nudged him with a smile.

"It's nice seeing them have fun." AJ smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, it is." Punk smiled

"Uh… sorry to intrude." Tony appeared from the side gate, "I was knocking the door but no one was answering. I assumed you guys were out here." He said as Punk and AJ looked over.

"Hey, Tony." AJ smiled pleasantly, standing up from Punk's lap as Punk stood up after.

"Everything ok?" Punk asked.

"Well… that depends." Tony said, "We managed to get the plates ran on the car."

"Oh, really?" Punk questioned as Tony nodded.

"Yeah, you guys aren't gonna believe who it's registered to." Tony nodded.

"I don't think anything shocks us much anymore." AJ laughed a little.

"Go on." Punk nodded.

"The car is registered to Jensen." Tony shook his head as Punk screwed his face up, turning to AJ who shook her head with confusion. It was a huge curveball if ever they'd seen one.


	53. Secret

**Secret**

* * *

"Jensen as in… Jensen who is in prison?" Punk questioned.

"Yeah, that one." Tony nodded, "It's registered to him from a couple years ago. When I was questioning him I remembered finding out he was in prison for a year. Cook county, with your dad." He said as AJ turned to Punk.

"You think they knew each other?" Punk asked.

"Well, it's physically impossible for Jensen to have been in the car crashing into April. He's in prison. He still is." Tony said.

"So what… you think Jack used the car? Why would he have access to Jensen's car?" AJ questioned.

"I think it's time we turn our attention to finding your dad." Tony nodded as Punk sat down, running his hands over his face and groaning, "Could be a chance they're working together. Jensen maybe left the car for your dad to use. Something like that." He shrugged as Punk nodded.

"God." AJ placed her hand on her forehead.

"What about my mom? That folder in the trunk of the car?" Punk questioned.

"No idea. The only thing that proves is that it's more chance it's your dad who was driving the car." Tony said, "We're gonna go to county and we're gonna talk to Jensen, even though he doesn't talk. Try and see what his connections to your dad is, we'll also ask the prison about when they were both in prison at the same time, if they were cell mates or something." Tony said as Punk nodded.

"This is insane." AJ shook her head.

"Phil, I think it's a good idea you keep your distance from this. If you didn't call this morning I would have sent you home anyway. It's too personal." Tony nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "I just… I didn't expect Jensen's name to be threw in the mix." He shook his head.

"Yeah, I was… I was shocked to hear it too." Tony said, "Just you be here with your family and we'll be looking for answers, looking for your dad more importantly."

"Can you try and figure out this thing with my mom. Why would he leave that folder in the trunk?" Punk questioned, "It obviously means something. When I typed my mom's name into the system, nothing came up. I know she doesn't have any kind of criminal record." Punk said.

"It might just be a threat of some kind. Or just a way of showing to you that it's him." Tony shrugged.

"You'll let us know everything after you get back from the prison?" AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I'll call or if there's a lot to go over, I'll stop by. We're hands on with the case." Tony assured them as Punk and AJ nodded, "I'll see myself out."

"Thanks for stopping by." Punk nodded as Tony eventually left the garden out of the gate.

"I couldn't have called that." AJ shook her head, turning to Punk who ran his hand through his hair.

"Neither could I." Punk shook his head.

"You know… thinking back to it." AJ paused, "That time that I went to visit your dad in prison, he knew who I was straight away. He knew what I looked like. He said it was just from watching the news or whatever but… maybe Jensen told him about me, about all of us." AJ suggested.

"Yeah, maybe." Punk nodded, "It's out of my hands. It's my mom's folder that is bugging me. It was literally the only thing in the car. Why on earth would that be in Jensen's car?"

"Like Tony said, Jack might have planted it-"

"Why would he want to be caught, though?" Punk questioned.

"I don't know, Phil. They're all psychotic." AJ shook her head

"It's a wonder I turned out ok." Punk rolled his eyes as AJ smiled a little.

"Define ok, mister." AJ smirked as Punk smiled to her, "Maybe you could go visit your mom and ask her what it could be? Just beg her to be honest with you, tell you everything." AJ said.

"I don't wanna have to beg her." Punk shook his head.

"I know but it could help Tony with the investigation." AJ shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." Punk sighed, "Do you realise this time last year we were on vacation with the girls?" Punk recalled.

"Yeah, it's sort of depressing." AJ nodded, "Compared to where we're at now."

"It's like we can't catch a break." Punk shook his head, "That vacation was good." He thought to himself, "I taught Marty how to swim." He recalled, looking over at the girls playing, "Kaia got to swim with the dolphins. We got to relax and chill out." He said. It was a dream to think about that time.

"We talked about having another baby on that vacation." AJ said. It stuck out a lot more because of their situation.

"Yeah, we did." Punk nodded, looking across at her, "This doesn't mean we can't ever have another one." He reminded.

"No, I know." AJ said, "It's just tough." She nodded as he took her hand, tugging on it for her to come sit with him as she got up and sat down on his lap.

"You still in pain?" He asked her.

"Mostly with my ribs. My stomach is just… off and on cramps." She said, "It should be over in a few days." She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Is the meds helping with the pain?" He asked.

"Yeah, they're letting me get a good sleep at night too." AJ nodded, "If anything this just made me realise that I… I really want another baby." She said, looking over at the girls as Punk watched her, "And I feel like this is my fault." She looked down.

"Hey, no… no how could this be your fault, April?" Punk questioned.

"I should have done more tests or went to the hospital. If I knew then-"

"The crash would have still happened." Punk reminded her, "Knowing wouldn't have changed that." He said, "Baby, this wasn't your fault." He assured her, "We can try for a baby when things calm down. When all of this is figured out and you're healthy again." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Where do you think your dad will be?" AJ asked him.

"I have no idea." Punk shook his head, "How can one man have so much hate in him?" He questioned.

"He's evil. He's just… he's gonna end up right back in prison, for another thirty years." AJ said, "Sooner the better."

"When this is all over, we're packing the car up and we're going somewhere. I don't care where. I don't care if it's snowing or if it's raining or it's sunny… whatever." Punk said, "We're getting out of here for a week." He nodded, "Or two." He added as AJ smiled.

"With all that spare money we have?" AJ whispered as Punk chuckled to himself tiredly.

"True." Punk nodded, "We'll be ok." He patted her leg, "I uh… I spoke to Tony about a raise when I go back full-time. He said to leave it with him." He said as AJ nodded.

"I'll be back at work next week." AJ said, "I was also thinking we could sell some things." AJ nodded.

"Like what?" Punk shook his head.

"Well the girls have so much clothes that they've outgrown." AJ nodded, "Specifically Marty. We could sell them. I was also going to suggest getting rid of my car but… it's now written off the road so, there goes that plan."

"Hey, a couple months of us grinding at work, picking up extra shifts and budgeting better and we'll be good." He nodded to her.

"Well then maybe we can get out of here for a week or two then." AJ nodded with a smile. She knew they weren't the only ones to struggle with finance, especially as a family with kids, and taking into consideration all the different bumps they'd come up against the past few months.

"Yeah, maybe." Punk smiled, "When is Mart getting her stitches out?" Punk asked.

"Next week." AJ nodded, "I can't believe they just got up and walked out of the car. They're freaky kids." She shook her head as Punk chuckled.

"They're tough like their mama." Punk smiled.

"Maybe." AJ smiled, "You think Tony going to the prison will be helpful?"

"Well Jensen probably isn't going to talk but maybe a guard can tell him if they ever saw them together. Maybe they were cell mates or something." Punk shrugged, "And what's the one thing they both had in common? Hating us. Jensen wanted me dead for killing Norman, wanted you dead because Norman couldn't finish the job. My dad wants us dead because… he's satan. They would have definitely got along."

"That's an insult to satan." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"I have faith in Tony. He knows what he's doing. Been at it for years." Punk said.

"Yeah, me too." AJ smiled, "You know, I feel a lot better today. It makes a difference you being here, I hope you know that." She told him.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here these past couple days. I should have been." Punk said, "Just… seeing you in pain is one of my least favourite things in the world." He said as AJ nodded.

"Now you know how I felt when I was watching you in your coma every day." AJ nudged him as Punk smiled.

"Ok, can we make a pact here that we do our best not to get injured anymore. One, we can't afford it, and two… it really fucking sucks." Punk said as AJ laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, I definitely agree." AJ nodded, looking over at the girls, "How can they have this much energy at this time?" She questioned, looking on at the girls running around, playing with their ball.

"It's nice to see them playing." Punk said as AJ smiled and nodded.

"Yeah it is." AJ agreed.

* * *

Later that night, Tony was in his office, arranging to go visit county prison to speak to Jensen and also the guards who worked there, when he got a visit from someone.

He looked up when he watched his door open, sitting back against his chair.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up." Tony nodded.

"Hey." Nadine said, closing the door behind her.

"How you doing?" Tony asked her as Nadine shrugged.

"Convinced both my sons hate me, Jack is trying to kill my granddaughters and April, yeah it's going great." Nadine nodded as Tony sighed.

"You know for sure it was Jack?" Tony questioned.

"Come on, Tony. Of course it was him." Nadine said.

"It was Jensen's car." Tony nodded, "And now Phil is asking questions about why a folder was left in the trunk of the car with your name on it. You know what he's trying to do, don't you?"

"Of course I do. He tried to expose it all at thanksgiving but then he left. I never knew that he would go do this." Nadine sighed, "I don't want Seth finding out or… or even Phil." She shook her head, sitting down across from the desk.

"Nadine, you're the victim here." Tony reminded her, "You didn't do anything wrong. You have to tell them before they end up finding out anyway. Phil is a cop, he's gonna know these things-"

"But did you take my case out of the system?" Nadine questioned.

"Like you asked." Tony nodded.

"Good." Nadine said.

"You need to tell them. I can't lie to Phil. Kid is good to me. He's a good worker and he's been through shit these past few months-"

"And how do you think he'll feel when I tell him the truth? How do you think Seth will feel?" Nadine asked.

"They'll be upset, for sure, but… it's better than lying to them. I can't play dumb anymore. I could back then because I was just a cop and I was trying to help you but… this is my police station now. And I have a man out there who attempted murder on a woman and two children. I can't carry on lying for you." Tony shook his head.

"Just give me a few days, Tony." Nadine shook her head, "To figure out what I'm gonna tell them."

"Fine. A few days." Tony nodded, "I'm going down to county tomorrow to talk to Jensen. I wanna know why Jack had access to the car." He said, "You have to tell Seth and Phil, so I can do my job with a bit more honesty."

"I will… I'll try. I just don't want to upset them." Nadine shook her head, "And it's like I have to relive it all again." She sighed.

"I know. I know it's tough. These guys are scum." Tony nodded.

"The boys think I could have avoided Jack coming if I just told Seth the truth about… about him not being his father." Nadine said.

"Well what do you expect when you aren't telling them the full story?" Tony asked, "Jack was coming regardless." Tony nodded.

"I know." Nadine said, "I just want them both in prison."

"Well one is." Tony said, "Just gotta get Jack." He nodded, standing up from his desk.

"How do I tell the boys?" Nadine sighed.

"You tell them the truth. What happened back then. What he did." Tony nodded, "It's gonna hurt them, Seth maybe more than Phil, but… it makes it easier for us to end all of this."

"I know." Nadine nodded.

"You should get home. It's late." Tony nodded, walking around the table as Nadine nodded, standing up and looking up at him.

"Thank you for being a friend all these years." Nadine nodded.

"Is that what you call it?" Tony asked as Nadine smiled, shrugging.

"You're the one who got married." Nadine shrugged.

"Because you're very hard to read." Tony nodded as Nadine shrugged.

"Can you blame me?" Nadine asked.

"No… No, I don't blame you." Tony said as Nadine smiled.

"Well… goodnight." She nodded, leaning up and kissing his cheek, walking away out of the office as Tony sighed to himself.


	54. The Truth

**The Truth**

* * *

"Come on, it's bath time, let's go." Punk clapped, standing outside Marty's room and watching her dig into one of her toy boxes, "What are you doing?" He shook his head.

"I'm looking for my bath toys." Marty nodded.

"Aren't you a little old for that?" Punk raised a brow.

"Daddy, I'm three." Marty gasped as Punk nodded slowly.

"You're almost four actually." Punk shrugged.

"I'm three today." Marty corrected, "And I want my bath toys." She told him as Punk just shrugged and nodded.

"Well the bath is gonna get cold, babe." Punk shrugged as Marty rolled her eyes, continuing to search for some bath toys, "Plus you can't really play with your toys when your sister is in the bath too."

"Daddy." Marty looked over angrily as Punk raised his eyebrows, "Shh." She told him, "Leave my room please." She nodded. He wasn't helping and she couldn't concentrate.

"Well hurry up." Punk told her, walking through to he and AJ's bedroom, through to the bathroom where Kaia was already in the bath.

"What's taking her so long?" Kaia folded her arms.

"She's finding toys." Punk shrugged, watching as Marty eventually came running into the bathroom with a water gun and a toy boat, "A water gun, really?" Punk raised a brow.

"Yes." Marty nodded excitedly, stripping her clothes off and hopping into the tub, grabbing her toys in with her and smiling happily as Punk just laughed.

"You both need your hair washed tonight so…"

"No." Kaia moaned.

"No, daddy. I need mommy to do it then." Marty put her hand up to keep him away.

"Why can't I do it?" Punk asked.

"You get water in our eyes." Kaia told him as Punk gasped, offended.

"I do not." Punk said.

"You do, and I don't like it." Marty expressed, "So you need to get mommy."

"No, mommy is busy. I'm doing it." He told them as they both looked terrified, "It's only water, it's not gonna hurt you."

"Hurts my eyes." Marty mumbled.

"Mommy does it where it doesn't get in our eyes." Kaia said, "Do it like that." She told him as Punk rolled his eyes discreetly.

"Ok, head back." Punk nodded to Kaia who tilted her head back, letting Punk grab the jug and wet her hair, "See, look… no water in the eyes."

"Not yet." Kaia mumbled.

"Ok, you do your shampoo." He told her as Kaia reached over to the bucket by the bath, taking out her shampoo and rubbing it into her hair. He remembered fondly bathing them both when they were just little babies. It was scary how much time had gone by.

"Done." Kaia announced as Punk smiled, watching her close her eyes tightly with fear that he'd get water in her eyes.

"Ok, how about this?" He asked, covering her eyes with his hand whilst pouring the water over her hair.

"Oh, better." Kaia said as Marty looked over at them, filling up her water gun and squirting it over at her sister, "Marty!" Kaia squealed angrily as Marty giggled.

"Mart, stop it." Punk told her as Marty turned the gun to him, squirting the water at him, soaking his t-shirt and face as she smiled deviously, "Hey." Punk said, "Stop it, come on." He told her as Marty rolled her eyes and stopped.

Not until Kaia yanked the jug from Punk, filling it with water and throwing it over Marty's head.

"Kaia!" Marty yelled as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Can you two stop it?" Punk asked them, watching as Marty used her water gun on Kaia again, "Or just… don't listen to me." Punk shrugged, sitting back down on the toilet seat and watching them fight until AJ came into the bathroom.

She almost slipped from some spilled water on the floor, "What is going on in here?" AJ asked as Marty turned to her, soaking her with her water gun as Punk raised his eyebrows. The girls could get away with teasing him all the time, but AJ… not so much.

"You're all wet now, mommy." Marty laughed cheekily as Kaia watched curiously, figuring her sister was about to get into trouble.

"Give me the water gun." AJ told Marty who was reluctant, "Martine."

"Oh, fine." Marty rolled her eyes after hearing her Sunday name, passing the gun over to her.

Punk stayed quiet, watching with confusion as AJ walked over to the sink, filling up the water gun, "What are you doing?" Punk whispered, watching as AJ turned around with the water gun, squirting it directly at Marty's face as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"Mommy." Marty giggled, putting her hands up and trying to hide as Kaia watched in shock.

"Mommy's shouldn't do that." Kaia whispered as AJ turned to Kaia, squirting her on the face too.

"Kaia give me the jug." Marty giggled excitedly at the challenge by her mother, scooping up water with the jug and throwing it over at AJ, getting her on the face and chest area.

"Hey, I need something." Punk said.

"I got you. I got you." AJ stood in front of him with the water gun.

"It's you two against us two!" Kaia squealed excitedly.

"Bring it, little people." AJ nodded.

"Kaia, use my boat too." Marty told her sister, taking this very seriously, continuing to get soaked by AJ squirting the water gun at them.

"I need something." Punk said childishly.

"There's a glass on the bedside table. Go… Go get it." AJ nodded to him excitedly as Punk ran out of the bathroom, almost slipping over as he grabbed the glass from the bedside table, running back into the bathroom which was splashed with water everywhere.

He was met with a load of water on his face as he returned, courtesy of Marty's just.

He filled up his glass with water, pouring it over Marty's head as she giggled. Both he and AJ's clothes were soaked through, as well as their hair, but they really didn't care.

"We're winning!" Kaia exclaimed fiercely.

"Oh, you think?" AJ tested, continuing to soak her with the water gun as Kaia tossed over water from the boat, "Get behind me." AJ told Punk as he got behind her, using her as a shield from the water, laughing to himself as AJ smiled.

"I'm so scared of them." Punk laughed to her as AJ nodded.

"Coward!" Kaia yelled at Punk, trying to get to him as AJ chuckled. The best thing was the laughter.

* * *

Later on Punk was walking down the stairs, drying his hair off from earlier on's bath time war. He'd left AJ putting the girls to sleep who were exhausted after a more energetic bath than usual.

He got to the bottom of the stairs just as he heard a knock at the door. He walked over and opening it up, seeing his mother and Seth standing.

"Hey." Punk said, almost questionably.

Seth nodded to him whilst Nadine smiled, both of them walking into the house as he looked at them, "Something wrong?" Punk worried, only thinking the worst if they were both showing up at his door.

"No." Nadine shook her head, "No, it's fine." She nodded.

"Where were you? The beach?" Seth looked at Punk.

"Bathing a three and five year old." Punk nodded briefly, "What's… what's up? It's late." He said as Seth shrugged. He didn't know why his mother had brought him here.

"I need to talk to both of you." Nadine nodded as Punk looked across at her, "Could we… go sit down?" She asked them.

"Go through to the kitchen." Punk nodded as they headed into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table, "What is it? Is it the cancer?" Punk asked worriedly.

"No… no, it's not." Nadine shook her head, "No, I… I think you both are suspecting that you haven't been told the full story about… Seth's father and Jack coming back…" She paused, "Just know that… I always just wanted to protect you both." She nodded as Punk looked over curiously.

"Hey, what's going on?" AJ walked into the kitchen.

"Were those kids trying to drown you or something?" Seth looked over at AJ who had soaking wet hair.

"Sit down, April. You're part of this too." Nadine smiled as AJ looked over to Punk with a little confusion, sitting down beside him, "Where to start…"

"_What are you doing here?" Tony questioned as Nadine walked into his office late one night._

"_Oh, I just came for the view." Nadine joked as Tony laughed and nodded, "How is the wife?"_

"_The wife is good, Nadine." Tony nodded, "Can I help you with something?" He asked._

"_Well I believe you hired my son yesterday." Nadine said as Tony nodded._

"_Yeah, well I'm giving him a shot. Putting him out into the field, best way to learn. Kid's got potential, I saw a lot of his work from the academy. Good brains, good agility." Tony said as Nadine nodded._

"_Well that's my boy." Nadine smiled proudly, "Look, I know that… Phil is so excited about this job, and he's worked so hard." She said, "But is there any way that my name… my case file can be scrubbed from the system? I never want him stumbling over it accidentally-"_

"_You've never told them? You've never told Seth?" Tony questioned._

"_No, of course I haven't." Nadine shook her head, "Why would I tell them?"_

"_Well because… they're older, they can handle it better… and I mean… it's Seth's father-"_

"_Who raped me." Nadine nodded, "I never want to tell him that. No… he… he shouldn't know that." Nadine shook her head as Tony looked across at her._

"_Don't you think he deserves to know that his father isn't Jack?" Tony asked._

"_I'd rather him be blind to it all than know his real father is a rapist, potential murderer-"_

"_We don't know that yet-" _

"_Well we know he's a rapist." Nadine said, "That's bad enough in my books." She said as Tony nodded slowly, "He's still young. I wouldn't put that on him."_

"_But he does deserve to know." Tony nodded._

"_Have you ever found him?" Nadine asked._

"_Who? Jensen?" Tony questioned as Nadine nodded, "No. No word of him. Not since the night you came here." He remembered, "My first ever case." He said._

"_Yeah, sorry about that." Nadine nodded._

"_No, you… you have nothing to be sorry about." Tony assured her, "What's happening with Jack?"_

"_Still in prison." Nadine shrugged, "For trying to murder me after I told him that Seth wasn't his. Even though I told him I was raped." Nadine nodded._

"_Promise me when this man gets out, you'll never let him back into your life." Tony shook his head, "He's as poisonous as they come."_

"_I hate that man, trust me." Nadine said, "Where do you think Jensen is?"_

"_No idea. You were the last girl to report a rape charge against him. He split and no follow up crimes have been committed." Tony shrugged._

"_So Phil won't stumble on the case?" Nadine asked._

"_I don't see any reason why he would." Tony said, "But I can shadow your name in the system. I just think it might help if you tell them, especially Seth." Tony nodded._

"_I just can't put him through that. I don't want him to think less of himself or… to feel like he was a product of something so evil. He's my son and I love him." Nadine shook her head. _

"_But they're your sons. They'll understand." Tony nodded. _

"_I can't tell them." Nadine shook her head._

"_Well it's your decision." Tony nodded, "How you been doing?"_

"_Yeah, I'm ok. It's been a lot of years." Nadine said, "Never think it'll leave me, though."_

"_Something like that… I don't expect it to." Tony nodded, "You're tough."_

"_I just hope that man never harms anyone else again. It makes my skin crawl that he's still out there." Nadine shook her head._

"_You and me both." Tony said, "I'll make sure that Phil never finds the case about all the girls who were assaulted around that time." He said._

"_Thank you." Nadine nodded, smiling over to him as he nodded. _

"_I do think that one day… it might help to tell them about it." Tony said._

"_Yeah, maybe one day." Nadine nodded. _


	55. Explanation

**Explanation**

* * *

"W-What… how?" AJ questioned, sitting at the kitchen table. Neither Punk or Seth could say anything. AJ could barely say anything after what Nadine had just told them.

"I didn't want to tell you because I just… I didn't want to upset you both or hurt you. I'm your mother and I… I wanted to shield you from it." Nadine nodded, "It happened a long time ago… years ago."

"How…" AJ shook her head. It was all she could think of saying. She couldn't understand it. None of them could.

"At the time, there were a lot of sexual assaults being reported in the area." Nadine nodded, "I worked locally at the library just a few blocks away." She said, "It's not like I had a protective boyfriend who would come pick me up or answers calls." She shrugged, "I was locking up one night… that's when it happened." She nodded as AJ placed her hand over her mouth, "I went straight to the police and Tony was there. He was young and new, a rookie." She smiled a little, "He really helped me out-"

"Tony knew?" Punk asked quietly.

"Yeah." Nadine said, "But it was me who made him swear not to tell you, either of you." Nadine nodded.

"What happened? Did you identify Jensen?" AJ questioned.

"After interviews and… photographs, going through a rape kit." She sighed, "They asked me to describe him so I did and it fit with all the other reports that had been made. They had his name because one girl had saw it on his ID, in a car." Nadine said, "But… that's all they had, a first name." She nodded.

"And they never found him all this time?" AJ asked.

"No." Nadine shook her head, "The attacks stopped and it was like he just disappeared, like a ghost." Nadine nodded, "And then I found out I was pregnant a few months later. I knew it wasn't Jack's. We'd been on a break at the time, back and forth, hadn't slept together in months." She shrugged as Seth sat quietly, looking down, not being able to look at his mother.

"Did he ever find out?" AJ asked.

"Jack?" Nadine asked as AJ nodded, "Yeah. I told him. I told him that I was raped and I was pregnant. He then was arrested that night for trying to murder me." She shrugged as AJ shook her head, "He just thought I was having an affair and was… I don't know, pretending I was raped." Nadine said.

"How could he do that?" AJ shook her head. She felt like she was the only one who could really say anything. Punk and Seth couldn't speak much.

"He's a horrible man." Nadine nodded.

"But when… when Norman was after me… didn't you realise that Jensen was his father?" AJ asked.

"No, because the cops never got any information on Jensen. They had his first name and a drawing of what he might look like. That was it. Things were so different back then. When Norman came on the scene and you were in the safe house, I just… I thought it was some lunatic. I never suspected they were connected, and neither did Tony." Nadine said as AJ sighed, "There were a few murders back then, when I was… assaulted… and at one point they were connecting them to Jensen but no one knew for sure."

"So when he came back and he was… he was following us and we got his name-"

"Yeah, that's when I realised who it was. Tony came to me and he told me." Nadine nodded, "Tony was so mad with himself that he never realised that… that was the man who was Norman's father. That's when we got a proper look into who Jensen was, the fact he probably murdered his own daughter. Then that girl was almost assaulted by him, I think her name was-"

"Stella." Punk nodded quietly, "She… she said she thought he was going to rape her." Punk recalled as Nadine nodded.

"I kicked myself for not realising at the time that Norman was Jensen's son. But truthfully we didn't really know who Jensen was. Just some evil person who had hurt so many women over the course of a few years. And Norman's acts were so different from his." Nadine said, "Tony wanted to go take him down himself but you… sped things up." She nodded to Punk.

"So why… why did Jack have his car and… what role does he play in all of this?" AJ asked.

"Well I didn't know this but Tony told me that Jensen was in county prison a couple years back. He obviously had a fake name or whatever. Jack was there at the time and… I don't know if they got talking or what but… seems like a friendship was made." Nadine said, "When Jack got out he told me he knew everything and that he was going to tell you all about what happened if I didn't let him stay with me." She said, "I think he was just waiting for the right moment to drop the bomb. He was never gonna keep it a secret."

"Why would that be something he enjoyed exposing?" AJ questioned.

"I don't know. I reckon they spent a couple years in prison together and… realised they had something in common. Hatred." Nadine nodded, "Tony thinks that they had each other's backs and Jensen gave Jack access to his car, maybe a house to stay somewhere…"

"Why would they want me dead? And my children?" AJ questioned. She had so many questions. She never thought something like this could have been dated back into Nadine's history, into something so awful and sad.

"Well I can't answer that part. I just know they're both awful people who have… terrifyingly got along with each other." Nadine said.

"And you never thought that Norman could have been related to Jensen at the time?" AJ questioned.

"No one did." Nadine shook her head, "I remember briefly Phil telling me about them finding Norman's parents' house, but no one was there, everyone assumed they had just left or Norman had killed them. I didn't realise until Jensen was back in town and he was stalking you. That's when Tony realised." She nodded.

"I'm… I'm so sorry you had to go through that." AJ shook her head. She couldn't imagine it. She didn't want to.

"Hey, you two." Nadine looked from Seth to Punk, "You guys can ask me questions." She assured them, "I just… I never wanted to upset either of you. I thought not telling you would… would be easier on you but I should have known that when Jack got out, he was gonna come straight to me."

"Why didn't you get rid of me?" Seth shook his head as AJ frowned, "Why the hell would you keep me?"

"Because you're my son." Nadine said, "And I love you, and nothing, no circumstance can change that. Family, relatives… they aren't made from blood." She said as Seth ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

"Why would Jack get along with Jensen in prison?" Punk questioned, "If he found out that Jensen had… hurt you." He shook his head.

"Because Jack doesn't care." Nadine shrugged, "He's always been a terrible person. When I met him, he was nice to me. It was a one night stand that lasted… too long." She nodded, "And then I found myself in a situation where I couldn't get out of it." She said.

"I uh… I don't know what to say." Punk whispered as Nadine nodded, "Tony knew all of this time?"

"Yeah, but… please don't be mad at him." Nadine shook her head, "He's really helped me. The day you were hired at the station I asked him if he could remove my case from the system, I didn't want you to stumble across it. He always told me that I needed to tell you both." Nadine nodded, "But I just wanted to protect you from it." She sighed, "And when I heard that a case folder was left in the trunk of the car with my name on it, I knew that Jack was tormenting the whole thing… truthfully I thought he was going to spill the whole thing at thanksgiving but… he obviously had other ideas."

"Why would he say you didn't know who the father was?" AJ questioned.

"That was just his way of opening it all up." Nadine shrugged, "I know that man. I know how he plays games. I never thought that he would have come after you and the girls, though." She looked at AJ, "That's where Jensen must have got to him. Twisted him even more." She nodded as Punk ran his hand over his face.

"You were Tony's first case?" Punk asked as Nadine nodded.

"Yeah." Nadine nodded, "He was really kind to me. He wanted to help me. He knew about Jack and what kind of person he was. Persuaded me to tell him about the rape and then when Jack almost killed me… he felt really guilty." She said, "We had a little relationship after. You boys were still young. But I was… I was too difficult." She shrugged as AJ frowned, "But he's always looked out for me."

"Oh, I'm going to kill him when I see him." Punk sighed calmly.

"No, don't. He's… he's a good person." Nadine assured him, "He always wanted me to tell you both." She said as Punk nodded.

"I'm so sorry, mom." Punk shook his head. He suddenly understood why his mother was so hidden, why she kept so much things to herself, he didn't blame her after holding a secret like that for so long.

"It's ok." Nadine nodded, "Nothing changes." She reminded them, turning to Seth who wasn't saying much, "Jensen is in prison now, and they'll get Jack. At this rate, they'll never get back out." She said.

"How have you kept all of this to yourself for so long?" Punk shook his head.

"I just… I have." Nadine shrugged, "Before I knew it, years had gone by and you boys were grown up. Jack was in prison and I thought Jensen was gone forever." She said, "And I just concentrated on you boys being happy and giving you the best I could." She nodded.

"I uh… I think I'm gonna go." Seth stood up as Punk looked over.

"Hey, man. You should stay." Punk said, "Stay a little longer."

"No, I… I better get back to Becky." Seth said. He just wanted to escape. Hearing the news that his father wasn't who he thought he was didn't take much to get over, but hearing that his father was a sociopathic killer and rapist… he was a little caught off guard.

"Seth, talk to me, sweetheart." Nadine nodded, "Don't shut it out, ok?"

"Yeah, I just… I need some fresh air." Seth told them. It was a lot to take in, for all of them, but for him especially.

"Ok." Nadine nodded, watching as Seth walked away and left the house, "I'm worried about him. I… I don't want him thinking any less of himself." She turned to Punk for advice.

"Hey, what you said is right. Blood isn't family. This is family." Punk said, "Just give him a little space, it's a lot… a lot to take in." He admitted as Nadine nodded.

"I'm sorry I never told you before." Nadine shook her head.

"You don't have to apologise for this." Punk shook his head, "I just wish I could have helped."

"You were just a little boy." Nadine said, "By the time you'd grew up, I was starting to… move on and get over it somehow." She nodded.

"You're so brave." AJ shook her head. She couldn't help admire her. She always had her perception about Nadine. At first when she met her, she thought she was very abrupt and cold, but then she got to see the soft side to her. And to know she'd gone through so much shit, and still came out strong in the end, it was admirable, as a women especially.

"I don't know about that." Nadine shook her head, "If you want to ask me anything about the case, you can." She nodded to them both.

"No, I think… I think you covered it." Punk nodded, "They just gotta find Jack now." He said. He felt like for once, he had a clear mind, which was unusual given the information he'd been told, but it helped him answer the questions he had. Over two generations his family had been affected by two dangerous sociopaths, and at one point, they never even knew they were father and son. It was a lot to take in, but for once, it was all answers.

"They will. He won't get far." Nadine shook her head.

"I think I'm… I'm gonna make coffee." AJ nodded, standing up from the table, feeling a tight cramp in her stomach as she held it and winced slightly.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Nadine questioned as AJ looked over at Punk.

"Just… the crash." AJ shook her head as Nadine spotted a little blood on AJ's sweats.

"April…" Nadine sighed, placing her hand over her mouth and shook her head.


	56. Knew It To Be True

**Knew It To Be True**

* * *

"Hey, you ok?" AJ asked, walking into the bedroom later that night where Punk was sitting as he nodded.

"You?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok." AJ nodded, "I didn't expect your mom to be so upset about the baby." She admitted truthfully, sitting down beside him on the bed. After Nadine noticing AJ cramping and the little blood on her sweats, they had sat down and told her about losing the baby in the car crash.

"I think she was upset and angry." Punk nodded, "I thought all this time she was still trying to see good in my dad but she… she's hated him to death all these years. She was just playing along." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, is it just me or does your mind feel… clear?" She asked.

"Like you have no more questions?" Punk asked as AJ nodded, "Yeah, it feels like that." Punk nodded, "I just feel so bad for calling my mom a liar, going off on her at thanksgiving-"

"You didn't know the truth then." AJ assured him, "I can see why she wouldn't have wanted to tell Seth now. I'm worried about him."

"Me too." Punk nodded, "I'll go visit him in the morning." He said.

"I'll come with you." AJ nodded, "Your mom really put up with so much shit. She's a tough woman."

"Yeah, she is." Punk nodded to himself, "Why would my dad want to come for you and the girls, though?" He questioned.

"Well you heard your mom. He's an evil person. Shockingly more evil than we ever thought. And if he spent time in prison with Jensen a couple years ago then… I'm sure that was two minds that should never have met." He said, "They probably talked about us. Jensen probably told Jack about you killing Norman."

"But that raped my mom, and my dad was just acting normal with him? They're all buddies and he's giving him his car and a place to hide out?" Punk questioned, "I mean what the hell?"

"I know, it's… it's really not for us to understand." AJ nodded, "They're just awful people. Brainwashed." She said, "And they're never gonna get out of prison again." She nodded, playing with the back of his hair.

"And Tony and my mom…" Punk cringed, running his hands over his face as AJ smiled a little.

"Hey it sounds like he was there for her when she needed someone." AJ nodded.

"But it's Tony." Punk groaned as AJ nodded.

"Yeah and you were just a little kid then." AJ reminded him, "Tony sounds like he's really helped her-"

"Helped her not tell me." Punk said.

"No, helped her get through this." AJ said, "I mean it's… it's not just an attack. A slap in the face or broken limb or something… it's rape." AJ shook her head, "It's awful." She sighed as Punk nodded, "As if what she went through with your dad wasn't enough."

"Yeah, I know." Punk shook his head, "The only place they belong is a cell." He said, "Why would my dad want to tell us so much about Jensen hurting my mom, and Seth being his father-"

"Because… it hurts you." AJ nodded as Punk turned to her, "It's a horrible thing and imagine how Seth is feeling right now, knowing that… that's his father and that's how he was born…. It's horrible." AJ sighed.

"But it doesn't matter. It's like my mom said. It's blood but… we're a family without them." He said.

"It's still gonna play on his mind at first." AJ said, "And Jack will love that." She said as Punk sighed and nodded.

"I wonder where he's hiding." Punk shook his head, "What if he gets away?" He questioned.

"Don't think about that." AJ shook her head, "Your mom is so brave. Like… wow." AJ nodded, "I remember when I first met her, I was like thirteen or something, I was staying for dinner and she was all adamant that I ate everything on the plate. I was kinda scared of her." She admitted as Punk smiled.

"Me too, sometimes." Punk laughed to himself.

"And then she practically… let me stay with you guys all the time." AJ nodded, "Any other parent probably wouldn't have been cool with someone sleeping in the spare bedroom every night, taking care of another kid but… she did, no questions asked." AJ said, "I could never have imagined that she had gone through so much horrible things in her life. She was always smiling." AJ smiled as Punk nodded.

"Why do bad things happen to good people?" Punk asked, "I'm sick of it. I saw it all the time at work. Just normal, good people trying to live their life." He said.

"Because the world is so horrible sometimes." AJ sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder, "All we can do is be there for her. Be there for Seth. Let Tony do his job and get Jack."

"It's a wonder me and Seth turned out ok." Punk shook his head.

"I don't think anyone can be born bad, like… inherited-"

"Then explain Norman and Jensen." Punk said.

"Well, it's either nature or nurture, right? In Norman's case it was both probably. He grew up around his dad, in that environment. He was shown that these things are ok and you can get away with it." She said, "And you and Seth were brought up in a good home with your mom. You guys were taught rules, taught how to respect women, and from then you just grow. I think it's definitely to do with environment. Nurture." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, probably." Punk nodded, "I'm worrying about Seth." He admitted, not being able to get his brother out of his mind.

"I know, me too." AJ nodded, "But he's got Becky. He's not alone. We can go tomorrow morning, bring some breakfast and talk to him." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "How you feeling?" He turned to her.

"Yeah, I'm ok." AJ nodded, "My stomach really hurt earlier. It was pretty heavy." She said as Punk nodded, "I'm ok now, though."

"You want a hot water bottle?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." AJ smiled, kissing his cheek softly.

"Ok, get comfy, I won't be long." He told her as AJ smiled and nodded.

* * *

The next day, AJ and Punk were getting ready to leave to go to Seth's. They had dropped Kaia off at school first and were back in the house, waiting on Marty who didn't want to leave the house.

"Marty, come on, babe. We don't got all day." Punk called up the stairs as Marty appeared, with no jacket or shoes on yet, "Hey, why are you-"

"I don't want to go." Marty huffed.

"Well tough." AJ folded her arms, "Now go put your jacket and shoes on, please. Like I asked."

"I want to stay here." Marty told them as Punk turned to AJ.

"Is she becoming difficult, or is it just me?" Punk whispered as AJ nodded.

"Marty." AJ folded her arms, "Please go get your jacket and shoes on." AJ told her as Marty walked down the first stair and sat down defiantly as Punk raised his eyebrows, "Martine." AJ said sternly.

"But I don't wanna go. Someone stay." Marty sighed.

"You love going to visit uncle Seth." AJ said, "He's really excited to see you" AJ nodded as Marty, "Shoes and Jacket, please."

"Fine." Marty rolled her eyes and stepped up the stair, storming away as AJ tutted.

"Really?" AJ turned to Punk, "She's just about four and she's already challenging us?"

"I knew the second she was born when she did that weird smirk thing that she was gonna be the troublesome one." Punk nodded to himself as AJ nodded.

"I'm gonna go make sure she is actually get her jacket on." AJ shook her head, walking up the stairs as Punk stood at the bottom waiting, suddenly listening as there was a knock at the door.

He walked over and opened up the door where he saw Tony standing. He never would have even suspected that Tony had known so much. He knew that he'd been a cop for a long time, and had been in charge of the station for a long time.

"Hey." Tony nodded.

"Hi." Punk said.

"Your mom dropped me a text last night and told me that she told you and Seth about… everything." Tony said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, she told us." Punk said, "And look I just want to say to you…" He paused, watching Tony look at him nervously, "Thank you." He nodded as Tony raised his brows.

"For what?" Tony shook his head.

"For being there for my mom. I mean I don't need the details or anything." He rolled his eyes, "But after what happened to her, with my dad, with Jensen… I'm sure it was important she had someone good looking out for her." He nodded, "So thank you for that."

"That's ok." Tony smiled, "You probably don't even remember me coming to your house when you were a kid." He said, "You were annoying as hell."

"Yeah, thanks." Punk nodded as Tony smiled, "It's just mad that Jensen had a past with my family before. It wasn't just about April and evenging his son but… my mom is involved in this too… it's madness." He sighed.

"Yeah but… hopefully it can come to an end soon." Tony said, "Maybe when it's all over I can sit you down and show you all the files, go over all the details-

"I don't really need to know the details." Punk shook his head.

"No, I just mean from back then, not about your mom or anything… I thought he had disappeared for good. This man who had sexually assaulted these women. We just had a name and a sketch of what he could look like so… when Norman came around and we found out just a little bit about his parents, that was all knew information to me. The only thing he had common was his name. Because that's all we knew." Tony said, "Once Jensen came back and was stalking April, that's when I dug into it and I realised… that's our guy. That was the guy all those years ago. I should have seen it coming."

"No, it's a difficult one. It happened a long time ago." Punk shook his head, "I just wanna know how my dad got involved with him."

"Well that's why I'm actually here." Tony nodded just as AJ walked down the stairs, "April." He nodded.

"Hi, Tony." AJ smiled pleasantly.

"So I went down county yesterday and spoke to a guard… they told me that when Jensen was in prison a couple years ago, under a different name he used, fake identity or whatever… he was cell mates with Jack for the entire sentence. Then he got out and… he got out just around the time that he was back in town here, stalking you guys." Tony said as AJ and Punk nodded, "Odds are they got talking in prison, Jack realised who Jensen was, figured they both had you guys in common… and they're looking out for each other. Jensen probably told Jack about a hiding place he had which is where he got the car from-"

"So it's definitely my dad?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, forensics got back to me this morning. His fingerprints were found in the car, on the steering wheel." Tony said as Punk nodded, "So now we just gotta find the bastard."

"Probably make a good start to find out where Jensen was living. Might be the best shot at finding Jack." Punk nodded.

"Yeah, that's what we're thinking. I'm gonna go and get back to the station, I just wanted to keep you guys in the loop."

"Yeah, I appreciate that." Punk nodded, "Things are a little bit clearer now."

"Good. I hated not being able to be honest with you. I just… I did out of respect for your mom." Tony said.

"I know that. You don't have to explain." Punk understood, "Thank you." He said as Tony nodded.

"I'll speak to you guys soon." He told them, leaving the house as Punk closed the door over.

"You ok?" AJ rubbed his back softly as Punk nodded. It was what they already knew. It was just a matter of finding Jack now.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Punk nodded to her as Marty came running down the stairs.

"Ok, I'm ready." She told them with sass, budging by them both as Punk just laughed to himself.

"She really is like you. She walks like you and everything." He watched Marty walk out of the door.

"That's a Puerto Rican walk." AJ nodded.

"Mhm." Punk said, "Let's go." He said, leaving the house and heading for Seth's.


	57. Living Nightmare

**Living Nightmare**

* * *

"How you holding up?" Punk asked, sitting in Seth's house.

"I'm ok." Seth shrugged, "You guys didn't have to come check up on me." He laughed a little, "Becky wanted to stay home from work just to check on me." He rolled his eyes.

"Well we were just worried." AJ shrugged, "It was a lot to take in last night."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Punk ran his hand through his hair, "Still having trouble digesting it all, to be honest."

"Me too." Punk nodded, "But uh… Tony came by to visit me this morning, just before we came here, and he told us they found Jack's fingerprints in the car, on the steering wheel." He said as Seth nodded.

"I mean, we all figured." Seth said as AJ and Punk nodded.

"So now they're just doing everything to find him." Punk said as Seth nodded.

"How you feeling about… everything?" AJ asked Seth, sitting beside him whilst Punk sat across.

"Well… finding out that my real father wasn't Jack, and that it was someone else, that was ok… I could deal with that, leave it to the imagination and carry on living my life." Seth nodded, "But knowing that my father is a rapist slash murderer who… raped my mom, knowing that's how I'm here…" He paused, "It fucking sucks." He admitted honestly as Punk and AJ nodded.

"It doesn't even matter." AJ shook her head.

"It does to me." Seth said, "Why would she even keep me?" He shook his head, "I mean, if you were raped and got pregnant, what would you do?"

"Hey, don't ask her that." Punk shook his head a little angrily.

"It's… not something I think about." AJ admitted as Seth sighed and nodded, tapping her arm apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I just… I don't get how she can look at me and not be reminded of him." He shook his head.

"Maybe I don't know what that would feel like… but I know what it feels like to be a mom." AJ nodded, "And you love your kid unconditionally. I don't love Kaia and Marty just because their father is Phil." She said, "Although it does help, I love them because they're mine, they're my babies and I love them with all my heart." She said as Punk nodded in agreement, "And your mom feels the same about you. You're her son. That's all that matters to her." She nodded as Seth sighed.

"It's just mad that mom went through all of that and we didn't know any different." Seth shook his head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she's good at hiding things for sure." Punk sighed.

"I feel bad for getting mad with her about not telling the truth." Seth shook his head.

"Hey, we didn't know. She understands that." Punk said, "We know everything now and… we just gotta hope that Tony finds Jack. Him or Jensen won't get out of prison after this." He shook his head as Seth nodded.

"Uncle Seth can I give you this?" Marty came into the living room, standing in front of Seth.

"Give me what?" Seth shook his head, watching as Marty sat up on his lap and wrapped her arms around him as he smiled to himself, hugging her back tightly as Punk and AJ smiled to one another, "What's this for?" Seth whispered.

"I don't want you to be sad." Marty said quietly.

"I'm not sad, sweetheart." Seth promised.

"Ok because I want you to be happy." Marty nodded as Seth smiled.

"I am, don't you worry." Seth nodded to her. He was so grateful for his family. For his brother and AJ, for his two nieces, his wife and his mother. It truly didn't matter who his father was, he knew he was loved and cared about, he knew this was his family no matter what.

"Can me and Kaia stay with you and Becky soon?" Marty asked him as Seth laughed a little and nodded.

"You can stay with us any time you like, princess." Seth nodded as Marty smiled.

"Do you not like us or something?" Punk asked Marty.

"Not when I can't have cap n crunch for my siril." Marty shook her head.

"Your what?" Seth shook his head.

"Cereal." AJ translated, "She… can't say that word." She whispered as Seth nodded and smiled.

"We've not been to the store yet." Punk explained to Marty who rolled her eyes.

"Bla bla bla." Marty whispered as Seth chuckled to himself.

"Someone better get cap n crunch in." Seth nodded to Punk and AJ who smiled and nodded.

"You know if you ever need to talk about this…" Punk said.

"I know." Seth nodded, "It's just… it feels a little deflating but, I'll be fine." He said, "Once Jack gets put in prison maybe we can actually all move on from this." He nodded.

"Yeah, hopefully." AJ longed.

* * *

AJ and Punk stayed at Seth's house for a little while, chatting to him and staying for some lunch with Marty. They knew it was so important, now more than ever, to be there for one another. They were glad to see Seth's spirit still intact, and it did help that Marty was offering him all her hugs and kisses.

They eventually had to leave to go pick Kaia up, so they got their things together, including Marty, and headed for Kaia's school.

"Baby we'll go to the store on the way home and we'll get you your cereal." AJ told Marty who nodded.

"Good." Marty nodded, looking out the window as Punk drove to Kaia's school.

"I'm so glad he's doing ok." AJ nodded, placing her hand on Punk's thigh as he nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Punk nodded with relief, "We all gotta stick together right now. I was thinking we could invite my mom around for dinner tonight." He said as AJ nodded. If there was one thing all of this had taught him, it was that his family meant so much to him. Their safety meant so much to him.

"That's a nice idea." AJ smiled, "We can pick something to make at the store." She said as Punk nodded.

"Nini is coming for dinner?" Marty asked, discreetly listening in to their conversation a little.

"Yeah, we're gonna ask her. Is that ok with you?" Punk laughed, looking in his rear view mirror at Marty who nodded.

"Yes, that's fine." Marty nodded.

"Well good, I'm glad." Punk chuckled to himself as AJ just shook her head.

They eventually got to Kaia's school, parking the car and getting out. Punk carried Marty who insisted on not walking because she was so tired. They headed over to the usual spot where they waited on Kaia.

"Why are kids just constantly screaming and all… crazy?" Punk questioned, watching as the kids came out of class, finding their parents as AJ shrugged.

"I don't know. They're kids." AJ concluded as Punk looked over, watching as two brothers appeared to be fighting whilst the mother tried to separate them.

"Bet you're glad we got girls and not boy." Punk nodded, "I remember fighting like that with Seth."

"Yeah, you come back and say that to me in ten years." AJ smirked.

"We agreed on this… you deal with them in high school, I deal with them prior." Punk shrugged.

"Oh, yeah. That's a fair deal, Phil." AJ rolled her eyes sarcastically, "What is taking this girl so long?" AJ shook her head.

"Yeah, all the kids seem to be out." Punk noticed, "Maybe she's talking to her teacher. She is a chatterbox."

"Well… there's her teacher there." AJ pointed, starting to get a tad nervous.

They walked over to Kaia's teacher who was standing, "Oh, hi." The teacher smiled pleasantly.

"Hey, is… is Kaia still in class?" AJ assumed.

"Uh… no, all the children have been released." Her teacher shook her head as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Well… well, she's not came out." AJ said as Punk began to look around the yard.

"Let me just go check inside in case she's still there." The teacher nodded, rushing back into the school to check in her class room for Kaia.

"Is she with any of her little friends?" AJ asked, looking around the yard as Punk shook his head, holding Marty in his arms who was also looking around.

"No… she's not here, April." Punk shook his head as AJ rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans, running her hand through her hair as they watched the teacher come back out of the school, alone.

"She's not in the class." The teacher shook her head worriedly.

"Phil." AJ panicked, turning to her husband.

"Let's just look around here first." Punk nodded, passing Marty to AJ as he began looking around the play yard, calling on Kaia whilst AJ also looked around with the help of the teacher.

Punk jogged around the side of the building, shouting on Kaia, hoping that she'd appear but the more he called and couldn't find her, the faster his heart began to race, and he already began to take his phone out of his pocket to call Tony.

"She's not here, Phil." AJ shook her head as Punk spoke to Tony on the phone, "We have to do something." She said frantically, putting Marty down on the ground as she stood with confusion.

"I can call the police." The teacher nodded.

"Phil is a cop." AJ told her, "Did you see her leave with anyone? We got here on time and we… we never saw her." AJ said.

"No, the kids all got out at the same time. She was in class all day." The teacher assured her as AJ placed her hands in her hair with terror. There was nothing she was more scared of than something happening to either of her babies.

"They're on their way. Let's get to the car." Punk told AJ.

"Phil, we can't… we need to look. We need to look around here-"

"Trust me. We need to go back to the car." Punk told her, noticing she looked like she was about to faint, panicking, "Come on." He caressed her arm, taking Marty's hand and waking back to the car as AJ continued to look around.

"Phil, what if something has happened to her?" AJ shook her head.

"Don't think like that." Punk told her, "We'll find her. We're gonna find her." Punk told her. He knew he had to be the voice of reason. Even though he'd never been more terrified.

They got back to the car where they put Marty in to avoid her seeing any of the drama. It didn't take the cops long to appear, Tony and Dean included.

"What happened?" Tony ran over to them.

"Kaia… she was released from school but we… we never saw her. Someone must have taken her." Punk nodded, "Right under our nose." He banged his hand off the car angrily as AJ placed her hand on his back to calm him.

"Ok, what was she wearing?" Tony asked.

"She uh… she had blue jeans on and a… a sweater with a unicorn on it. It was grey. The unicorn was white." AJ nodded immediately, "Her hair was up in a bobble and she has a pink bookbag with uh… Elsa and… what's her name?" AJ asked Punk.

"Anna." Punk nodded immediately.

"Yeah, that… Frozen people." AJ nodded.

"Ok ok." Tony said, writing down the description and passing it over to another cop standing by for him to page out.

"It's gotta be him, right?" Punk nodded.

"We just gotta treat it like a missing kid's report. Let's not jump to conclusions." Tony said, "Have you got something that belongs to her for the sniffer dogs?" He asked them as AJ turned to Punk.

"Yeah, her… her owl is in the car." Punk nodded, reaching into the car and taking the owl as Marty watched him, confused and upset looking, "Hey, it's ok, baby." Punk kissed her cheek, "It's ok." He nodded, leaning out of the car and passing the owl over to Tony, the same owl he had bought Kaia when she was just a few days old, when he promised he would protect her from everything.

"Ok, great." Tony nodded, passing it over to another cop.

"What… What do we do?" AJ asked, "Can we go look?" AJ wondered. She needed to do something, she felt like if she stood still, not doing anything, she'd lose her mind.

"Ok, I've paged out her details. Dark hair, short little girl aged five, clothes description… people are gonna be aware there's an active search, ok?" Tony nodded, "Sniffer dogs are gonna come and cover this area, see if they can get a track on her from here." He said as AJ nodded.

"Hey, you two." Dean appeared, "The sniffers are here." He told Tony who nodded and headed away to go deal with it. Things were very much hands on right away.

"Could you take Marty home?" AJ asked him, "I don't want her here." AJ nodded, "Or can another cop take her if your busy?"

"I'll take her." Dean nodded to them, "We'll find her." He assured them both, noticing they were both a very pale colour, "It's all paged out. It's the middle of the day. People are out, they notice these things." He said, placing his hand on AJ's arm, noticing she was starting to cry.

"We'll find her." Punk said, wrapping his arms around her as she cried.

"I'll get Marty home, don't worry." He told them as Punk nodded to him, watching him lift Marty out of the car, taking her into his own and driving off, "It's ok." He told AJ softly, "We'll find her." He caressed the back of her head, watching the cop cars begin to line up down the street. It was a living nightmare.


	58. Gone

**Gone**

* * *

"Ok, we got a sighting of a little girl matching Kaia's description going into an apartment block about a mile away" Tony approached them, "The sniffers are gonna stay here and we're gonna head out to the address."

"I'm at your back." Punk told him, quickly getting into the car with AJ and driving off, following Tony's car as AJ clasped her shaking hands.

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick." AJ shook her head. She felt like her heart was in her mouth the entire time, like she couldn't breathe.

"We're gonna get her, it's gonna be ok." Punk nodded, keeping his eyes on Tony's car as they followed him into the city. They broke around every speed limit and ran every red light, but there was no way he was going to slow down.

"What if… what if it isn't her?" AJ shook her head, her head filled with so much doubt and worry as it raced away with itself.

"It will be. It's the middle of the day and someone has saw her, ok? We'll get her back." Punk nodded. He felt like he had to be the voice of reason here as he could see his wife was starting to fall apart. He also had to say those words aloud to convince himself that they'd find their daughter, and that she would be ok.

They eventually pulled up at the address behind the other cop cars where Punk immediately got out of the car.

"Let me go in first." Punk told them all, "Odds are it's Jack. Let me talk to him." Punk said.

"I can't let you do that." Tony shook his head.

"You know what… you can." Punk said, "I got this. Let me end it." Punk said as Tony looked at him, nodding slowly and handing him the gun.

"Let me come." AJ nodded desperately.

"Just… just you stay here. I'll get her. I'll bring her to you." Punk assured her, cupping her cheek as AJ nodded worriedly whilst Tony wrapped his arm around her for assurance.

Punk walked up the steps to the apartment block and headed inside. He knocked on the first few doors but had no clue as average people going about their normal day answered. However, one did direct him to the top floor where a lone man was staying for the past few weeks, so Punk immediately headed that way.

He tried opening the door, luckily finding it open as he kept his gun tightly in his grip, walking into the apartment quietly.

He walked down the hallway, slowly creeping into the living room where he saw Jack standing with Kaia. It was a relief just to see his daughter healthy and ok, but still a nightmare to see her with him.

"You're quick. I'll give it to you." Jack smiled.

"Daddy." Kaia smiled, about to run to him right away as Jack pulled her back.

"You stay here, sweetheart." Jack told her as Kaia frowned and looked over to Punk. She really wanted to go to her daddy.

"Let her go." Punk said, "You let her go, April is downstairs waiting on her, just let her go and we can talk." Punk nodded.

"We can talk with her here." Jack smiled as Punk looked over at Kaia.

"What do you want? What could you possibly want?" Punk asked, "How can you have any more hatred left in your body?" He questioned as Jack shrugged.

"I promised my friend I would help him." Jack nodded.

"Your friend, Jensen?" Punk questioned, "Yeah, I know all about that. I know all about mom." He said, "You're a horrible, evil person. And your time is gonna come, it's gonna come now." He nodded, "You've already done enough. To me. To my family. My mom."

"Your mom just loves the attention." Jack scoffed.

"My mom was raped and you beat her for it." Punk shook his head, "What kind of animal are you? You… You tried to kill my wife and my children." He spat.

"Jensen had some unfinished business-"

"And you two are best friends?" Punk questioned.

"We spent some time in prison together." Jack nodded, "I understood him."

"He's a serial rapist and murderer." Punk said, "And you got along with him? Isn't that a reflection on the type of evil you are." He said as Jack shrugged.

"I developed a friend and I promised him I would help him when I got out. He told me all about April. How he used to watch her at the hospital. How he really wanted to get to her." Jack smiled as Punk looked across at him.

The only reason things were kept so calm, from his perspective, was because Kaia was standing right there. He didn't want to scare his daughter, but he was having a hard time standing listening to his father.

"Yeah well, he was pretty unsuccessful at all of that. He's in prison for life and we're all here." Punk shrugged.

"Well that's where I come into play." Jack nodded, "You see Jensen wanted you dead. He wanted you dead for killing his son-"

"Who also was a serial killer." Punk said.

"If that's the way you wanna put it." Jack said, "He just wanted to get to know April, like he got to know your mom-"

"Shut up!" Punk spat as Kaia looked over at Punk, "Let my daughter go. She has nothing to do with any of this."

"Ok." Jack put his hands up, "Ok." He nodded, "Go to daddy." He nudged Kaia who immediately ran over to Punk who crouched down and pulled her into him tightly, hugging her whilst keeping his eyes on Jack.

"Sweetie, I need you to leave this apartment and go down all the stairs, the way you came in, and mommy is gonna be outside waiting on you, ok?" Punk nodded to her.

"Ok." Kaia nodded.

"Ok, good girl." Punk kissed her head, watching as she ran away, turning his attention to Jack.

Kaia left the apartment and ran down all the stairs, taking her time so she didn't fall, eventually reaching the bottom and running out where she spotted her mother.

"Mommy." Kaia smiled happily.

"Oh my God." AJ cried, running up the steps and crouching down to pull Kaia into her, "Oh thank God." AJ cried, placing her hand at the back of Kaia's head, hugging her so tight, afraid to let her go as Tony took a deep breath.

"Ok, we got the kid." Tony announced out, "We got her."

"Baby, are you ok?" AJ asked Kaia who nodded.

"Mommy I'm fine." Kaia shrugged, "I came out of school to find you but… but a man took my hand and he grabbed me away." She said.

"I know, baby I'm sorry." AJ shook her head, "That man shouldn't have done that." AJ made clear, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No but he kept shhing me." Kaia folded her arms as AJ nodded.

"Is daddy still in there?" AJ asked her.

"Yeah, he was yelling." Kaia nodded, "I was scared."

"Hey no, you don't be scared of daddy." AJ shook her head, "Come on, let's get you into the car." AJ told her, taking her hand and walking down the steps where she walked over to Tony.

"Just send people up. I don't want Phil getting hurt." AJ told Tony who looked at her, "I don't want him getting shot again. Just send other people up."

"You wanna call that for sure?" Tony asked.

"I'm calling it." AJ said, "Send them up."

"Ok." Tony listened to her, "What apartment was it?"

"Baby, how many stairs did you climb?" AJ asked Kaia.

"A lot. All of them." Kaia shrugged.

"Top floor." AJ nodded to Tony.

"Alright." Tony said, "Alright, everybody up!" Tony ordered.

Meanwhile in the apartment, Punk was getting back to his feet, blood gushing from his nose whilst he looked over at his father leaning against the couch, in a much worse way. It was clear to see who was winning the fight, and it wasn't Jack.

Punk truly believed he wasn't just getting his anger out from today, from finding out his father had taken his daughter, but for the seven year old little kid in him who couldn't defend himself all those years ago. He was doing this for him.

"Come here." Punk yelled, grabbing Jack up by the neck, "You're gonna rot in prison with your buddy." He spat as Jack smiled through bloody teeth, "You'll never know love. Ever in your life."

"I don't need it." Jack smiled breathlessly.

"Oh, but you do." Punk said, "Any time someone comes for you in prison, I want you to think of me, I want you to think of me at home with my wife and my kids, my brother, my mom… I want that thought to eat you alive in there." He spat, pushing Jack over as he collapsed against the smashed over coffee table.

He could never understand why his father was the way he was, but now it was plain to see he just didn't care. He was a monster. Soulless. And there was no place for him other than prison. It didn't hurt Punk to admit that. This man was nothing to him.

"I hope you all live happily ever after." Jack chuckled.

"We'll do our best." Punk crouched down, wiping his bloody nose, "I hope you rot, slowly, in pain every day." He nodded.

"Ok, Phil… step back." Tony walked into the apartment with back-up as Punk put his hands up and nodded, kicking his father in the face before stepping back, watching as his father was immediately handcuffed.

"Hey, you ok?" Tony walked over to Punk who nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Punk wiped his nose, "Is Kaia-"

"She's with April outside. She's good." Tony said as Punk nodded.

"I gotta go see her." Punk nodded, walking out of the apartment, running down all of the stairs and rushing out to the cars where AJ was waiting with Kaia.

"Thank God." AJ sighed with relief, running to Punk as he caught her, wrapping his arms around her tightly as she circled her arms around him, "Are you ok?" She caressed his face as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Punk nodded, crouching down to Kaia, "Are you ok?" He asked her.

"I'm fine daddy." Kaia nodded, "What happened to your nose?" She wondered.

"Oh, I… I bumped it. I was being silly." Punk shook his head.

"Silly daddy." Kaia smiled as Punk nodded, wrapping his arms around her tightly and kissing her head.

"Ok, we all good?" Punk assured himself as AJ nodded, rubbing his arm softly as she watched as the cops brought Jack out.

AJ glared over at him with so much anger. Not only had this man been the source of so many of her families problems, but this man had caused them to lose a baby, he took that from them. She wouldn't forget that.

Punk didn't even notice as AJ ran over to Jack being pulled over to the cop car. She pushed by the cops and grabbed him angrily.

"Hey, hey… April, no." Tony tried to pull AJ back as Punk looked over.

"Stay here." He told Kaia, running over to get AJ who was slapping on Jack's face and clawing at his eyes.

"Hey hey hey…" Punk made his way over, "Ok, that's it." Punk nodded, pulling AJ back as she spat on Jack followed by many Spanish words, "Ok ok." Punk calmed her down, letting the cops put Jack into the car, "That's it.. he's gone." Punk told her as AJ took a deep breath, "He's gone." He nodded as she wrapped her arms around him tightly.

They walked back over to Kaia, embracing her and making sure she was ok whilst Jack was taken away in the car.


	59. Breathe Again

**Breathe Again**

* * *

"Are you ok?" AJ asked, linking her arm through Punk's after getting out the car. Punk was holding Kaia in his arms who had fallen asleep after a very chaotic day.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Punk nodded to her as AJ smiled, rubbing his back softly, walking towards the door to their house, "She still asleep?" Punk whispered as AJ looked behind, noticing Kaia fast asleep on Punk's shoulder, her chin resting on his shoulder whilst her arms clung around him.

"Yeah." AJ smiled sweetly, "Oh shoot, her bookbag is still in the car." She said.

"We'll get in the morning." Punk said as AJ nodded, opening up the door to their house.

It had been a long day. After Jack was taken away in a car, Punk and AJ stuck around talking to Tony for a little while before eventually getting home. Since it was late, they stopped and got some food for Kaia who wound up falling asleep straight after.

"I'll go put her straight into bed." AJ nodded, walking into the house.

Punk nodded, kissing Kaia's head softly before passing her over to AJ, "Goodnight, baby." He whispered, smiling as he watched her open her eyes a little, looking at him over AJ's shoulder, waving to him a little before closing her eyes back over.

Punk ran his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath that for the first time in a long while, wasn't filled with dread and uncertainty. It was a breath of relief.

He strolled into the living room, pausing when he saw his entire family sitting. Dean was there with Seth and Becky, whilst his mom sat over on the couch.

"Hey… people who do not live here." Punk nodded, watching as his mom walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him as Punk smiled softly, hugging her back as Dean smiled watching.

"Are you ok?" Nadine asked him.

"I'm ok." Punk nodded.

"Is Kaia and April ok?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, April is just putting her down right now. She crashed out in the car." He explained as they nodded, looking over at him as he realised they were all wondering the same thing, "Got him." Punk nodded triumphantly as Nadine placed her hand on her chest, "He's been arrested." He assured them all as Seth smiled, turning to Becky and giving her a warm hug.

"You really got him?" Nadine asked as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, he's gone." Punk smiled, "You don't… you don't ever have to worry about him again." He nodded. It was the best possible thing he could say to his mother right now. He could see the relief, the joy on her face… on everyone's face.

"How'd it go down? You get a crack at him?" Dean stood up, of course asking the important questions.

"We don't gotta go into it." Punk nodded.

"Just so we can all plan out our dreams for tonight." Dean nodded as Punk smiled.

"I got to say what I needed to say." Punk said, "Do what I had to do." He nodded as Dean smiled, patting Punk on the back.

"I think this calls for a celebration." Dean nodded as Punk smiled, nodding in agreement, "Oh by the way, Marty is in bed."

"I figured." Punk chuckled with his friend, looking over at his brother who was smiling happily, "You good?" He asked Seth, walking over to him.

"Yeah, I'm good." Dean nodded, "Fuck them dads. They ain't dads. They ain't nothing." Seth said as Punk smiled and nodded.

"Amen." Punk smiled, embracing his brother as Nadine watched with a smile. It was the best possible outcome. She knew it was wrong for her to ever think her son's bond could be broken over unimportant biology. They weren't brothers by blood, but by love and consideration.

* * *

Everyone stuck around a while before splitting, leaving just AJ and Punk in the kitchen, sharing a bag of chips that were opened out in the centre of the table.

"You wanna talk about it?" AJ asked him as Punk looked across at her.

"About what?" He asked.

"What went down with you and Jack?" AJ asked.

"Nothing really went down." Punk shrugged, "I… I got my hands on him. Said what I had to say and then Tony and the guys came up." He said.

"He let me make that call." AJ nodded as Punk smiled.

"Yeah, I kinda figured." He smiled sweetly.

"I just… I couldn't watch you go into another coma or get hurt again so… as soon as Kaia came running out, I asked Tony to send them up." AJ nodded.

"You made the right decision." Punk assured her, "It was… it was weird. I just… I felt like that seven year old little boy again." He admitted as AJ looked at him, "Felt like he was beside me. And I owed him this." He nodded, "All the times I got pushed around and I couldn't do anything about it-"

"You gave him a taste of his own medicine." AJ nodded.

"Yeah." Punk said, "I'm done trying to figure out how he could be so cruel. I'm done wasting time and thought on him." He nodded, "He's gone now. Maybe we can all actually move on now." He said as AJ nodded with a smile.

"We can." AJ nodded, "For sure."

"Sounds like Jensen really got into his head when they were prison buddies. I mean he was an awful person anyway but… I think Jensen brainwashed him even more."

"Well they can bond some more now that they're both back in prison together." AJ scoffed, "Good riddance." She shook her head.

"Doesn't even feel real." He admitted, "To think they're gone."

"I know." AJ sighed, "Feel like I have a clear mind for once." She said as Punk nodded.

"You almost clawed his eyes out." Punk smiled a little as AJ nodded.

"I just saw him and I… I lost it." AJ shook her head, "After everything he's done to us, everything he did to your mom… losing the baby." She shook her head, "But I guess it's pointless trying to inflict pain on someone who just doesn't care about anything." She nodded.

"He's gonna die in prison. Alone." Punk said, "Whether you care about nothing or not… that's good enough justice for me." He said as AJ nodded in agreement.

"Yeah." AJ said, reaching over the table and taking his hand. He nodded to her, signalling her over as she got up from the chair, walking around the table and sitting down on his lap.

"I love you." He nodded as she smiled.

"I love you." She whispered, cupping his cheek and kissing him sweetly as he kissed back, running his fingers through her hair as they enjoyed the passionate kiss. They could feel each other relaxing against the other, melting into the kiss, their worries melting away through it as AJ played with the back of his hair like she always done.

The only thing that broke them up was a knock at the door.

"Who the hell is that?" AJ shook her head, sitting up from Punk's lap.

"I'll get it." Punk nodded, walking out of the kitchen and down to the doorway, opening up the door where Tony was standing.

"Hey." Tony smiled as Punk nodded.

"Come in." Punk told him, "You just missed everyone."

"Having a party?" Tony smiled.

"Yeah, I guess we were." Punk nodded, leading him through to the kitchen.

"I don't blame you." Tony smiled, "Hi, April." He nodded.

"Hey, Tony." AJ smiled sweetly.

"So we're holding him in jail right now but he's getting transported to county first thing in the morning." Tony said, "With his attempted murder, his kidnap… he's gonna have two life sentences, regardless of what he gets… he's never getting out." Tony assured them, even though they all knew it.

"It's like angels singing to my ears." AJ nodded as Tony smiled.

"So that's it, huh?" Punk nodded.

"That's it." Tony nodded, "Both of them. Gone." He said, "I bet your mom is relieved."

"Yeah, she really is." Punk said.

"She deserves peace after everything she's gone through." Tony said as Punk nodded, "I actually wasn't here to talk about the cases or Jack actually." He admitted.

"Why are you here?" Punk asked.

"Well I figured that… you were ready to come back to work next week?" Tony asked as Punk nodded right away.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can be there." Punk smiled, turning to AJ who smiled to him. She knew the joy his job gave him, she'd never take that from him.

"Yeah and I actually… I have a proposal for you." Tony said as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"I'm… already married." He pointed to AJ teasingly as Tony scoffed.

"Take this seriously, Brooks. You can't be goofing off in the station when you're a captain." He said as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"A what?" Punk shook his head.

"Holy shit." AJ's eyes widened with a smile.

"I spoke to the board today. They specifically asked for you. Since Gary moved state… the position was looking to be filled and well… I can't help agree with them. You're perfect for the job."

"Me? A captain?" Punk questioned as Tony smiled and nodded, "So I'd-"

"Be in charge of the precinct." Tony nodded with a smile, "It's a lot of fun, trust me." He said as Punk turned to AJ who was smiling and clasping her hands with pride.

"But I've… I've been out for weeks." Punk shook his head.

"They take into consideration the overall work. Your attitude, your dedication, your skills… in my opinion… should have happened a long time ago." Tony said as Punk raised his eyebrows with shock, "Oh and… you'll be happy to know the salary is a whole lot better." He nodded as Punk turned to AJ who smiled.

"I… I don't know what to say." Punk admitted truthfully.

"Well at least tell me you accept the job." Tony laughed.

"Of course I do." Punk shook his head.

"Then give me your old badge." Tony nodded, taking out the captain badge he had in his back pocket.

"It's over in the drawer." AJ pointed as Punk opened up the drawer, taking his badge out and handing it over to Tony.

"Here you go, captain." Tony said, throwing the badge to Punk who caught it, smiling as he saw the engraved title on the badge, "I'll see you Monday morning." He saluted him, "April." He nodded to AJ who smiled, watching as Tony left the kitchen and headed out of the door.

"Oh my God, baby." AJ squealed, getting off the chair, jumping on Punk, wrapping her arms and legs around him and squeezing him tightly as Punk smiled, spinning her around, keeping the badge clenched his hand, "I'm so proud of you." AJ said, ecstatically as Punk put her down on the ground.

"I can't believe it." Punk shook his head as AJ cupped his cheeks. Seeing the smile on his face was the best thing in the world. She was so happy for him, no one deserved it more.

"I'm so proud of you." AJ repeated, shaking her head with amazement as Punk smiled, wrapping his arms around her tightly, spinning her around as she squealed and laughed with excitement.


	60. Cold Break

**Cold Break**

* * *

_Two months later…_

"Girls, please check the snow for stones before you throw them!" AJ called, leaning over the deck as she watched Marty and Kaia throwing snowballs at one another.

"That has to be the least cool thing that has ever came out of your mouth." Punk chuckled, sitting behind her around the fire as AJ gave him a glare over her shoulder as he smiled.

"Be careful!" AJ called to the girls who were wrapped up in huge jackets, scarfs, hats and gloves, "Phil, you have no idea how clumsy they can be." AJ turned around to him, walking over and sitting down beside him.

"I know but… it's snow that's laying on the grass. It's not bombs they're throwing at each other." He shrugged as AJ nudged him.

"Of course you always have to be the fun parent." She rolled her eyes as Punk nodded and smiled.

"I do." Punk said, taking a sip of his coffee, "They're having a lot of fun." Punk noticed with a smile.

"Of course they are. If my parents took me to somewhere like this when I was little I would… well I'd have no one to play with, and my parents would have just argued the entire time but… still…" She looked around, "It's so beautiful." She smiled, leaning into him.

"It's amazing." Punk nodded.

They had booked out a log cabin for a week in the woods, covered in snow, surrounded by fairy lights and the most beautiful scenery they'd ever seen. The girls were in love with all the space to run around and play in the snow, whilst AJ and Punk were really enjoying getting to relax in front of the fire.

"This is your first big break since becoming captain." AJ realised, looking up at him as he nodded, "You feel like you needed it?" She wondered, adjusting his beanie on him.

"Whether I'm captain or just a regular cop… you always need a break." Punk assured her, "It's just nice to get out and switch that part of my life off for a week."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." AJ nodded.

"Yeah you had a tough week last week." Punk noted.

"Three night shifts, one death and one terminal diagnosis." AJ said, "Horrible." She nodded as Punk kissed her head on top of her beanie.

"They're lucky they have you as their doctor." Punk said, "I'd want you as my doctor. You're so good." He nodded.

"Oh, compared to you and your evil job? Saving people in danger-"

"Actually I rescued a cat from a tree last week." Punk corrected her.

"So that's what a captain does." AJ smiled to herself as Punk laughed a little.

"Pretty much." He teased as AJ nodded, watching as the girls ran around, jumping on one another and playing in the snow, "I can't believe Mart is four." He shook his head.

"I know." AJ said, "It's unbelievable." She said as Punk nodded, "You know I think I prefer this to a sunny vacation." She admitted.

"Really?" Punk asked.

"Look how beautiful it is." AJ shook her head, "It's straight from a Christmas card." She said as Punk nodded to himself. The snow was everywhere and their cabin was sweet and cosy. It was definitely a different type of vacation.

"It is." Punk agreed, "Cold, though." He admitted.

"I can heat you up." AJ whispered, cupping his cheek and looking up at him as he smiled, leaning down and kissing her softly as she kissed back, tracing her fingers down her face as they suddenly felt a snowball hit them on the face.

"Hey!" AJ called, turning around and watching Kaia running away from the cabin down to the open area in front of the cabin.

"Come get us!" Marty challenged as Punk and AJ stood up from their chairs they were sitting in on the deck, walking down the steps onto the snow covered grass, getting their own snowballs and running after the girls who were squealing and screaming with excitement. Whenever their parents got involved in playing with them it was always the most exciting thing in the world.

"Check for stones! Check for stones!" AJ called to everyone as Punk stood, balling up a large snowball and smacking AJ on the ass as she gasped, "Phil." AJ turned around with raised eyebrows as Punk smiled deviously, "Everyone get daddy!" AJ called as Punk laughed.

He tried his best to escape them, but with the girls grabbing at his legs and AJ climbing onto his back, he was officially captured, falling onto the snow with them.

"Ok, you got me. You got me." Punk laughed to himself as Kaia and Marty stayed on top of him giggling. It was the best noise in the world.

* * *

"They're finally asleep." AJ smiled, walking through into the living room area of the cabin where Punk was sitting in front of the fire toasting a marshmallow, "Bruno has somehow planked himself on our bed." She said.

"That bastard." Punk teased as AJ nodded, "Leave him be. He's having fun too." He smiled as AJ nodded, sitting down beside him and taking a marshmallow from the bag, pushing it onto the top of a stick and holding it over to the fire.

"The girls were fascinated by this." AJ laughed to herself. They had toasted marshmallows outside earlier on after dinner with the girls, and both of them were truly shook by such an activity.

"Yeah, like they were watching pigs fly." Punk nodded, eating his marshmallow from the stick.

"They love it here." AJ nodded, "Maybe we should make this an annual thing." She smiled as Punk nodded, "Now that we're not crippled with debt."

Over the past couple of months, due to Punk's increase in salary, a considerably large increase, as well as AJ returning to full-time work again, they had worked through paying back all of the overdrafts and credit cards they had ran up, and were learning to really be more careful with money.

"Yeah, maybe we should." Punk smiled, "I love how shut off it is." He said, "Nothing is going on here, and I love it." He nodded as AJ smiled, pulling back her marshmallow from the fire, "Come on, you gotta get it all burnt." Punk laughed.

"No way. It has to be just right. Firm on the outside, all mushy on the inside." She said, "Like you. Phil, you're a marshmallow." She gasped as Punk laughed and nodded.

"I'm a marshmallow." He figured, watching her eat the marshmallow.

"Tastes just as sweet as you." She smiled as Punk nodded to himself, smirking slightly as AJ looked over at him with a smile, sitting the stick down and climbing over him, sitting on his lap and looking down at him.

"We're gonna have to move Bruno, I think." Punk whispered.

"No…" AJ shook her head, "No, here is fine." She said quietly, cupping his cheeks and leaning in for a kiss, taking his lips against hers as his hands circled around her back.

AJ pulled back from the kiss, lifting her t-shirt off as Punk watched her reach behind to unclasp her bra, throwing it away beside her as he smiled, caressing her neck and kissing her on the lips again.

He reached over for the cushion on the couch, sitting it down on the floor in front of the fire before laying AJ down, stripping his t-shirt off and leaning over her as she smiled, pulling him down for a kiss again, not getting enough.

He kissed down her neck as AJ smiled, rolling her head on the cushion comfortably, looking to the side at the crackling fire giving them heat, not that they needed it. She smiled to herself feeling Punks kisses travel down her neck to her breasts.

"Oh, baby." AJ moaned softly, feeling him use his mouth on her breasts, cupping the back of his head and looking down as Punk kept his eyes on her, using his mouth on one breast whilst his hand massaged the other, switching back and forth as AJ bit her lip, feeling her centre getting wet and hot.

"Further?" Punk asked quietly, even though he was already moving down her body anyway.

AJ bit her lip and nodded, watching as he got to her jeans, unbuttoning them and pulling them down along with her panties as AJ smirked to him. He was always thinking about that smirk.

He parted her legs, leaning down and using his tongue to divide her folds as AJ rolled her head back and smiled blissfully, "Fuck yes." She whispered to herself, cupping her breasts as she felt his tongue go wild on her most sensitive area.

He placed his hands on her stomach, really losing his head in between her thighs as AJ began to moan breathlessly. She wasn't sure how he did it, but without a doubt, every time, he hit every single sweet spot, some which she didn't even know she had.

"You're gonna make me cum." AJ smiled down at him as he wiggled his eyebrows at her, going back to concentrating with his tongue, only she began to feel him slip two fingers inside of her, really hitting her on the sweetest spot as her back arched from the floor, "Phil." AJ moaned, rolling her head back.

It didn't take long before she eventually hit her orgasm, her fingers digging into the carpet underneath her which her back arched up from, feeling him lap up everything she spilled whilst her body twitched with pleasure.

Punk looked up and smiled, kissing back up her body, looking on at her body still quivering, her head still rolled back as he smiled, leaning down and kissing her neck as she eventually looked up.

She rolled them around where Punk was on his back, resting his head against the cushion as he watched her kiss down his chest, keeping her eyes on him as she kissed slowly down his body, finding her way to his jeans which she undone, pulling them down along with his boxers and throwing them away behind her.

He watched as she took his length in her hand, stroking him up and down before lowering her head down, using her mouth on him, bobbing it up and down, running her lips up and down the side of his shaft as Punk closed his eyes and moaned.

"Fuck." Punk moaned softly as AJ continued bobbing her head up and down on him, holding all of him in her mouth at times, sending him crazy as she released him with a smile.

"Come here." Punk nodded, tugging on AJ's hand as she climbed over his body.

"My favourite." AJ whispered, straddling his hips as Punk looked up at her with a smirk.

She reached behind, stroking his length up and down, guiding it to her entrance where she sat down on him slowly, her walls closing in around him as they both moaned out in sync.

"Fuck." Punk moaned.

"God, it's so good." AJ bit her lip, beginning to move her hips up and down on him as Punk looked up at her, watching as she brushed her hair to the one side, watching her in all her glory.

AJ leaned her head back, bouncing up and down on him, cupping her breasts, closing her eyes with pleasure as Punk watched her. He was always blown away by her beauty. Every day. And this was one of those moments where he thanked himself lucky that he got to meet a woman like her, and even better, he got to marry her.

* * *

The night proceeded and the fire began to go down, only holding out some small flames which were still warm enough, although they had done a pretty good job of keeping themselves warm for a few hours.

Punk was currently on top of AJ, thrusting into her back and forth, keeping her hands above her head and leaning down for her lips and neck. The fact they were both so relaxed, so caught in the moment, made things all the more pleasurable.

"Right there…" AJ moaned out, feeling him hit her g-spot over and over again, biting her lip. Her hands being above her head turned her on even more and he knew that. She felt herself reach yet another orgasm, grazing her teeth over his shoulder as Punk smirked.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum." Punk nodded, thrusting into her back and forth, feeling all the blood rushing to one place.

"Cum inside me." AJ moaned as he let her hands go, placing them on the floor whilst she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Fuck." Punk moaned, slowing his thrusts down as he spilled himself inside of her, closing his eyes and moaning as AJ watched him with a smile, kissing the corner of his moaning mouth as he eventually turned and kissed her back passionately.

"Shit." Punk groaned, collapsing down beside her on the floor, resting his head on the cushion with her as AJ smiled.

"That was…" AJ swallowed breathlessly.

"Yeah." Punk agreed, running his hand through his messy hair.

"Here." AJ reached over for the blanket on the couch, shaking it out over them, "I don't know if that was the fire giving me the orgasms or you." AJ admitted as Punk chuckled to himself.

"I'm hoping… me." Punk said as AJ smiled. Even after eight years together, nothing was ever boring. Life together was never just mediocre. That was the most amazing thing.

"I love you." AJ said, turning on her side, looking into his eyes.

"I love you too." Punk smiled sleepily, leaning over and kissing her sweetly as she wrapped her leg around his body, cupping his cheek and kissing him back passionately whilst the fire crackled beside them.


	61. Came A Long Way

**Came A Long Away**

* * *

"Kaia what did you get up to at school today, baby?" AJ asked, looking over at the girls having dinner at the table whilst Punk sat with them. He was filling in some paper work, still in his uniform as was she. Both of them working full-time meant they had to work around each other with Kaia being at school and Marty having a babysitter. But Nadine and Seth were always helpful.

"Uh… nothing." Kaia concluded. AJ asked her every day what happened at school and every day, nothing happened.

"One of these days, you've gotta tell us something exciting you've done." Punk said as AJ smiled.

"May I have the ketchup please?" Kaia asked.

"Yeah, here." AJ reached for the ketchup and sat it on the kitchen table as Marty snatched it up right away.

"Hey." Kaia turned to Marty.

"I need it for my chicken air planes." Marty told her sister.

"Aeroplanes." Punk hummed.

"That's what I said." Marty said with frustration, squeezing out some ketchup on Punks paper work at the top.

"Marty." Punk scolded as Marty smirked to herself, "Hey, no… don't do that." He warned her as AJ looked over, "This is daddy's work stuff. It's important." He said as Marty just made a face at him, "I think you're starting to need a timeout sometimes." Punk shook his head.

"No, I do not." Marty made clear.

They had been noticing Marty getting a little more sassy as of late, with a lot more attitude and mischievousness. She didn't like to be told off.

"Yeah I think you do." Punk nodded.

"Here, use that to clean it off." AJ handed Punk a wipe over as Marty sat the ketchup over.

"Oh, I remember something from school." Kaia announced.

"What?" AJ smiled excitedly.

"I shared my snack with my boyfriend." Kaia smiled, reaching over for the ketchup as Punk yanked it back from her and stared at her, clearing his throat and shaking his head, "Daddy, give me the ketchup please-"

"You don't have a boyfriend." Punk made clear, "You're six." He nodded.

"I do." Kaia said, "His name is Jamie."

"Oh it has a name." He turned to AJ who rolled her eyes.

"Phil." AJ scoffed.

"What did we all discuss? No boys until you're thirty." Punk nodded.

"Thirty… is that… in ten years?" Marty asked as Punk shook his head.

"What? No… no it's in a lot of years. So long." Punk said.

"But I have a boyfriend now. He shares with me." Kaia said, "And he's nice to me."

"Well that's good, baby." AJ smiled, "As long as he's being kind to you-"

"April." Punk turned to AJ with confusion, "What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" AJ laughed.

"I had my crackers for a snack and I gave him one." Kaia said.

"I would never share my food." Marty said.

"See… exactly. This is how we behave at school." He pointed to Marty as Kaia shook her head.

"No, sharing is really kind, baby. Don't listen to daddy, he's being silly." AJ smacked Punk on the back of the head lightly.

"Sometimes he doesn't even have a snack because his mommy forgets." Kaia frowned, "So I have to give him something or he'll be hungry."

"Well that's very sweet of you, baby." AJ smiled as Punk looked across at Kaia.

"It's rude to stare, daddy." Kaia informed him.

"Jamie? That's his name?" Punk shook his head.

"Yes." Kaia nodded.

"That's a terrible name." Punk told her as AJ nipped him on the arm from behind, "Hey." He looked at her.

"Didn't you want to call Marty, Jamie if she was a boy?" AJ reminded him as Punk tutted.

"No." Punk scoffed.

"Yes you did." AJ nodded.

"No, I wanted to call her Jay if she was a boy." Punk said.

"Which was gonna be short for Jamie." AJ reminded him as Punk scoffed.

"Whatever." Punk mumbled.

"Maybe you could invite Jamie over for dinner sometime?" AJ asked Kaia as Punk turned to her.

"What on earth are you doing?" He asked her seriously.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Kaia nodded.

"Oh, grow up." AJ told Punk, "Don't be so childish." She said as Punk folded his arms unhappily as Marty watched him.

"How do I get a boyfriend?" Marty asked Punk who stood up and began packing his paper work up, "Daddy, answer me." She pointed her fork at him as Punk quickly gathered his things up and left the kitchen as AJ chuckled.

"He's so weird." Kaia mumbled as AJ smiled and nodded.

* * *

"Hey, I know you were only joking earlier with the girls but… don't be so serious. It's good Kaia has a little friend." AJ said, sitting on the couch later that night.

Her favourite part of the day at times was when the girls went to bed and she could relax on the couch with her husband. Occasionally she'd bribe a foot rub out of him after being on her feet all day, or they'd share some sort of desert. It was always the best way to unwind after a long day.

"I wasn't joking." Punk turned to her as AJ made a face, "She didn't say he was a friend… she said boyfriend. I mean where does she even get that language from?" He asked.

"Come on, it's cute. She shares her snacks with him." AJ said.

"She should just eat her snacks on her own." Punk said, "We don't buy snacks for other kids."

"Hey, I relied on other kids sharing their snacks with me." AJ said, "If it wasn't for kind kids like Kaia, I wouldn't have ever had snacks during recess." She said as Punk nodded slowly, "So don't say that." She advised.

"I just don't like it." Punk huffed childish.

"Ok, but you know that one day… they're gonna move out, they'll have a boyfriend or a girlfriend." AJ said, "You can't smother them forever."

"And I won't… but she's six, April." Punk said.

"And? So what? You never had a girlfriend at that age?" AJ asked him.

"No, well… maybe, I don't know." Punk shrugged as AJ smiled.

"I love that you're protective, but… being this protective will only encourage them to grow up and do exactly the things that we tell them not to do. They'll deliberately rebel against us and it'll be all your fault." AJ concluded as Punk laughed.

"All my fault?" Punk nodded, "I just… I'm not prepared for any of that stuff. Them growing up… it's terrifying." He shook his head.

"I know but it's also exciting." AJ nodded.

"No… not exciting." Punk shook his head, "I just think about how I was as a kid, as a teen." He shivered.

"They'll be fine." AJ smiled, rubbing his arm softly, "You know what I think we need?" She asked, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her.

"What?" Punk asked her.

"A baby." AJ said as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"I was… I was thinking you were gonna say another slice of cake or something." Punk said as she looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh, you can have another slice of cake." She smirked up at him as he laughed a little.

"You wanna have a baby?" Punk asked her as she nodded.

"I do." AJ nodded, "I think we're in a good place for it." She said as Punk nodded, "And I don't just wanna do it because of the miscarriage. I just… I miss them being really little." She nodded, "And I always wanted a big family." She nodded.

"Hey, you know I'm down for it." Punk nodded.

"You're not just saying that are you?" AJ wondered, "Just because it's what I want?" She asked, "We can wait… or if… if it's not what you want-"

"No, I do." Punk assured her, "Maybe we'll even have a boy. I think that's something I need."

"Yeah, I agree." AJ nodded.

"We've never tried to have a baby before." Punk realised.

"Oh, yeah." AJ said, "I'm gonna have fun with this." AJ smirked.

"Oh and I'm not?" He questioned as AJ chuckled.

"Oh, what are you gonna do if it's a girl? I'm scared they might break you." AJ said.

"Three daughters." Punk thought to himself, "It's scary." He nodded.

"I think you can handle it." AJ smiled, "Imagine telling younger us when we lived at your moms that we'd be married and… we'd have three kids." AJ shook her head, "It's crazy. I remember being really jealous if you ever had a girl over." She nodded, "I thought I could never get anyone like you to even look my way-"

"Like me?" Punk laughed.

"Yeah, someone everyone likes, looks up to… wants to hang out with." AJ nodded.

"That's what you thought of me back then?" Punk smiled a little.

"Well… yeah." AJ said, "I mean I hated you for teasing me and being nasty to me but… I saw the way people acted around you."

"I wouldn't have thought that's what you thought of me." Punk admitted as AJ nodded, "I always thought you'd end up marrying a doctor or something." He shrugged, "You were so smart… beautiful-"

"Were?" AJ questioned.

"Are." Punk nodded, "But I thought it back then too." He said, "And you were just… really kind. Really good." He said as AJ smiled, "And I know Kaia and Marty take their kindness from you." He said as AJ smiled.

"You really thought I was beautiful back then?" AJ questioned.

"Of course I did." Punk nodded, "When I'd come down in the middle of the night and you'd be in the kitchen studying, and your glasses were on, and you'd have broken out in some spots-"

"Oh, God." AJ rolled her eyes.

"No, I… I thought you were the most beautiful person in the world." He admitted as AJ looked up at him.

"Is that why you were mean to me? Because it was easier?" AJ questioned.

"I guess… maybe it was." He nodded as she smiled up at him.

* * *

"_It's 2am." Punk shook his head, walking into the kitchen in his mom's house, looking over at eighteen year old AJ sitting at the kitchen table with all her books out._

"_I didn't ask for the time." AJ said as Punk nodded to himself, opening up the fridge as AJ looked up, noticing he was only in his boxer shorts, "You couldn't have put some clothes on?"_

"_You love it." Punk said, taking out a bottle of water as AJ shook her head._

"_I had to move down here because you were making too much noise with your friend. Just because your mom is away on vacation with her friend doesn't mean you can have sex parties every night-"_

"_Yes it does actually." Punk nodded._

"_Well I'm trying to study, Phil." AJ said as Punk turned around, watching her as she ran her hand through her really long dark hair, her glasses perched on her nose as she scribbled down notes quickly._

"_Why do you care so much about this stuff?" Punk shook his head as AJ laughed and shook her head._

"_Because it's something I want to do." AJ said, "I don't expect you to understand that, because you're just… permanently a selfish person." She shook her head, "But this is the first time in my life where I get to… do something for myself. I want to be a doctor and this is what I gotta do."_

"_Why a doctor?" Punk shook his head._

"_Because believe it or not, there are people who need cared for." AJ said as Punk looked at her. She had to be without a doubt, the most selfless person he knew._

"_Well it's… it's a lot of work. Hope it pays off for you." Punk nodded as she looked up. She could never tell if he was being sincere or not._

"_Well hopefully it will if you stop bringing girls home." AJ said._

"_Hey… you are welcome to join us." Punk smirked as AJ rolled her eyes._

"_Disgusting." AJ shook her head as Punk smiled, "Please can you just keep it down?" AJ nodded as Punk looked over at her, watching her scribble notes down furiously. He nodded to himself and left the kitchen without answering._

_AJ hadn't even noticed him leaving, too busy focused on writing her essay and taking her notes. When she heard someone walking down the stairs slowly, she crept her head around the kitchen door and looked down, noticing it was the girl who Punk obviously had keeping him company._

_She stood up and watched as she left out of the door, closing it behind her as she folded her arms and sighed a little._

_She then watched as Punk walked down the stairs, standing down the hallway at the door looking across at her as she stood in the kitchen._

_She watched him nod to her with a small smile. It was rare for him to ever listen to her or do anything she asked, but she found it sweet that he'd taken into account her actually being in the house for once._

_She smiled back, tucking her hair behind her ear as he watched her. He started to feel nervous, and so his only coping mechanism was humour._

"_Now she's gone… you wanna come join me?" He smirked._

"_Oh, go away." AJ rolled her eyes, slamming the kitchen door over, listening to him as he chuckled to himself and walked back upstairs, laughing a little to herself and shaking her head. _


	62. The First

**The First**

* * *

"May I please have this barbie?" Marty asked, showing AJ and Punk the barbie doll boxed up.

"No, baby. Santa brought you lots of barbies a couple months ago." AJ nodded.

"This is different." Marty said, "Santa bought me fat barbies. I want a skinny barbie." Marty nodded.

"They weren't fat, they were body positive." Punk corrected.

"Thank you." Marty smiled, throwing the barbie doll into their shopping cart as AJ took it back out.

"Put it back on the shelf, please." AJ told her, handing it to her as Marty huffed, walking back to where she found the barbie, "The attitude on her is ridiculous." She turned to her husband.

They were doing their months grocery shopping whilst Kaia was at school. They'd gotten a day off together and thought they'd use their time well.

"She's just testing us. Kaia does too." Punk shrugged, unbothered.

"Look at her… she's not put it back on the shelf yet." AJ whispered, "She's gonna put it in the cart without us noticing." AJ nodded.

"No she won't. She'll put it back." Punk scoffed, watching suddenly as he witnessed Marty putting the barbie doll up her t-shirt behind her back, "Oh dear God." Punk said worriedly.

"See, I told you." AJ said.

"Ok, mommy. I put it back." Marty smiled sweetly, walking back over to them.

"Hey, Mart… I bet you can't do five jumping jacks right now." Punk said.

"I don't feel like doing jumping jacks." Marty shrugged with a smile.

"Ok, Quasimodo, we know the doll is behind you." Punk nodded as AJ folded her arms whilst Marty gasped.

"No it's not." Marty defended, "I put her back."

"The come give me a hug." AJ said.

"I don't want a hug." Marty shrugged.

"Martine Brooks." Punk said as Marty looked down, swaying her foot from side to side innocently, "Please can you put the doll back?"

"Please may I have the doll to keep?" Marty tried again.

"No means no, baby." AJ said.

"But I said please." Marty looked at them.

"Just because you say please doesn't mean you're gonna get it." Punk reminded her.

"But I'm a good girl." Marty told them.

"Who has many, many toys." AJ reminded her, "You don't need another barbie doll." She said.

"But that's not fair." Marty stomped her foot as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Marty, put the doll back now." AJ told her.

"No, I'm staying here." Marty sat down on the floor, taking the doll from behind her and sitting crossed legged with her in the middle of the aisle.

"Ok, just let her have the doll. People are looking." Punk whispered to AJ.

"No." AJ shrieked, looking at him, "No she's not getting her way. Nuh uh… I don't lose to four year old's."

"It's like… ten dollars." Punk said.

"It's not the point, Phil. She needs to learn that she can't always get what she wants. Let her be in her little mood." AJ waved her hand.

"Marty, stand up, huh?" Punk nodded.

"No." Marty folded her arms as Punk groaned to himself.

"Well we're going to the next aisle. You stay here and get lost then." AJ said, pushing the cart past Marty as her and Punk walked further down the aisle as Marty watched them, curious if they were really going to leave her.

"Is this the Puerto Rican sass you were talking about that you had?" Punk asked.

"Yup." AJ nodded, "Don't give her any attention."

"We can't just leave her in this aisle." Punk laughed, turning back and looking at Marty who was still sitting on the floor with her doll.

"Hey, if you wanna be the pushover parent then go ahead. But they'll never learn and they'll turn into spoiled little brats." AJ shrugged, "She's just going through a phase and she's testing us. But I don't lose." She reminded Punk.

"No, I know that… but, it is just a doll." Punk said.

"Just a doll?" AJ questioned, "I had one doll to play with… my entire childhood. Marty got three for Christmas. And she got one at her birthday. And she has other toys too-"

"I know… I know that but, I don't think not buying her it will teach her anything." Punk shrugged.

"Fine. You go deal with her then." AJ rolled her eyes, "But then I'll be mad with her and you." She said as Punk shook his head.

"Give me a minute." Punk said, walking back over to Marty who was still sitting on the floor.

AJ stood and watched Punk crouching down to her, talking to her as Marty spoke back to him. She wasn't doing it because she didn't want her children to have nice things. She just wanted them to know they couldn't always get what they wanted in life. She thought it was an important life lesson. She knew Punk was a lot more softer with the girls, so she figured they were gonna end up having to buy this barbie doll.

She continued to wait at the end of the aisle, watching as Punk spoke to Marty. She then saw Marty stand up and run back over to the shelves, surprised to see her putting her barbie doll back. She raised her eyebrows as Punk smirked over to her with an accomplished smile as she nodded, impressed.

"Mommy, I don't need the barbie doll." Marty ran over to AJ, "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, baby." AJ nodded as Punk walked over to them, "Did you hypnotize her or-"

"We had a little chat." Punk nodded.

"I'm just going to play with the barbies I have at home." Marty told them.

"That's a good idea." AJ smiled, pushing the cart ahead as AJ turned to Punk, "What did you bribe her with?" She wondered.

"Nothing." Punk laughed, "I just told her that these things cost money and that she's lucky that she has toys at home because some kids don't have any. She was… of course, confused why some kids don't have any toys but… it worked." He shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe I should have tried that." AJ realised, "No fair, you're gonna be the fun, understanding parent and I'm just the nag." She rolled her eyes.

"You're not the nag." Punk laughed, "Who is the person they go to when they don't feel well? Or when they cry? Or when they need help with something?" Punk asked, "You." He nodded.

"No… when they cry they go to you." AJ corrected, "I think that's cute, though."

"She's just at that funny age." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Well at least she listened." AJ said as Punk nodded, "Ok, what else do we need?"

* * *

"Lasagne or casserole for dinner?" AJ asked, scratching Punk's head on the way by as he sat at the kitchen doing some work.

"Yeah, sounds good." Punk nodded, not paying attention as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm making lasagne then." AJ decided, "Where are the girls?" She wondered.

"They're outside in the garden playing." Punk said as AJ nodded, looking out the window where she saw the girls.

"Marty got over her barbie meltdown already." AJ noticed, "What are you even doing?" AJ asked, turning to Punk.

"Just filling in these stats for the week at the precinct." Punk said as AJ nodded, "Oh and I forgot to say, there's a charity dance thing next weekend, it's for the precincts in the area. I used to be able to get out of them but now I'm captain, I kinda have to go." He said.

"So I'll be lonely here." AJ frowned.

"No… you're coming with me." Punk laughed.

"Oh." AJ smiled, "So I have to get a dress for this?" AJ realised.

"Hey if I have to go get a suit, you have to go get a dress." Punk nodded, "You have some nice dresses." He turned to her.

"Aren't they too casual?" AJ asked him.

"Just wear what you're comfortable in." Punk shrugged as AJ nodded and smiled.

"We'll have to ask your mom or Seth to watch the girls." AJ said.

"Yeah, I'll drop by at my mom's and see if she can babysit. I know she likes having the girls over to stay." He said as AJ nodded, both of them listening as there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, could you get that?" AJ asked, in the midst of making up the lasagne.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, getting up from the table and walking down the hallway, opening up the door where he saw their neighbour standing, an older woman.

"Hi Miss Newman." Punk smiled pleasantly.

"Your children are getting soil all in my garden. And I just cut my grass yesterday." Miss Newman said as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"Soil?" Punk shook his head.

"They're digging a hole and the soil is going through the fence into my garden. And they've also kicked two balls over. Every time I throw them back, they end up back in my garden." She said with frustration as Punk nodded slowly.

"Sorry, I'll… I'll go speak to them." Punk shook his head, not knowing what to say.

"Mhm." Miss Newman nodded, "And say hello to April for me. I saw her yesterday and she's looking fantastic." She said as Punk nodded, watching her walk back over to her house as he closed the door over.

"Who was it?" AJ asked as Punk walked back into the kitchen.

"Miss Newman next door." Punk groaned, "The girls are… getting her garden dirty, I don't know…" He sighed, "Oh and she said hello to you, and that you look fantastic." Punk rolled his eyes.

"I love that bitch." AJ smiled to herself.

"Why does she hate me and love you?" Punk wondered as AJ shrugged, "I better go… see what the girls are actually doing." He rolled his eyes, walking out of the back door and walking across the grass where Kaia and Marty were.

"Hey, daddy." Kaia smiled.

"Hi." Punk said, "What are you two up to?" He shook his head.

"Digging for treasure." Marty said, sitting on the grass with a shovel in her hand.

"I see." Punk nodded, "Ok, well you guys need to be a little more careful cause you got all this dirt going into next door's garden." Punk showed them.

"Oh." Marty shrugged, carrying on with the digging.

"Why don't you guys dig over there? Away from the fence." He suggested.

"I want to dig here." Marty nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Kaia looked at Punk.

"Ok, well… I'm asking you guys to move over, because Miss Newman doesn't want dirt in her garden." Punk explained, watching as Marty shovelled some dirt up and deliberately threw it into the garden, "Hey, that's enough." Punk warned. He didn't mind their attitudes at times, because he thought it was amusing, but there was definitely a line that had to be drawn.

"Daddy you're ruining our fun." Kaia said.

"Yeah." Marty agreed.

"No, I'm just asking you guys to move over. That's someone else's house and property. You also gotta be careful and stop throwing the ball in there." Punk said.

"But it's an accident!" Marty yelled angrily, "And she never gives them back either." She stood up, folding her arms, "She's a mean old lady."

"Ok, can you guys just move over please? It's not a big deal-"

"But we started digging here and there might be treasure at this part." Kaia pointed.

"There is no treasure here, you guys are being stupid." Punk said with frustration as they both looked at him with sadness. At times, he forgot to put on his father hat.

"You're no fun." Kaia frowned, walking away and heading into the house as Punk sighed to himself.

"You made my sister upset." Marty looked at Punk angrily, "I hate you." She threw the shovel down and ran away as Punk cringed a little. His official first I hate you, and it hurt his heart like a knife being stuck right in it.

He walked away into the kitchen where AJ was standing making coffee.

"What's wrong with them?" AJ asked, "One stormed in and then the other did."

"I got my first I hate you." Punk nodded, "Take a guess who from."

"Marty?" AJ figured as Punk nodded, sitting down at the table, "Hey, she didn't mean it. She's a kid."

"I just asked them to move over. Why are they so difficult sometimes? It's like I'm talking to-"

"Children?" AJ smiled a little as Punk sighed, "They play up. It's what they do. She'll apologise." AJ rubbed his back softly as Punk groaned and leaned his head on the table. The thought of having another kid on days like these wasn't too appealing.


	63. Changed Minds

**Changed Minds**

* * *

"Ok, it's time for bed." Punk walked into the living room where Kaia and Marty were sitting watching their programs before bed on the children's channels. They were already in their pyjamas from AJ bathing them earlier. She had been requested for bathtime tonight instead of him.

"Mommy is putting us to bed." Marty told Punk, not looking at him.

"Mommy is busy right now." Punk lied, "So I'm taking you both to bed. Come on." He said.

"No." Marty folded her arms whilst Kaia, who was ultimately more sensitive, looked over at Punk.

"Ok." Kaia gave in, jumping off the couch and running over to Punk.

"I'm not moving." Marty made clear as Punk looked over at her.

"Fine, you stay there. Me and Kaia are gonna read a new story tonight and you won't know anything about it." Punk said childishly as Marty looked at him, watching him walk away with Kaia.

Kaia ran upstairs quickly and into her room as Punk followed behind, watching the six year old get into her bed under the covers.

"Daddy are you mad with me?" Kaia wondered worriedly. She was very different from Kaia. She had AJ's sensitive side, the worrying and concerned side.

"I'm not mad, sweetheart." Punk shook his head, sitting down on the edge of the bed as Kaia tucked her owl into bed beside her, "I'm just upset, that's all."

"Why are you upset?" Kaia asked sadly, "Is it because Marty said the hate word?" She asked.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, I'm upset with her." Punk said.

"I don't think she meant it." Kaia shrugged, "But we were digging for treasure and you ruined our fun-"

"I didn't." Punk defended, "I was just asking you guys to move over a little from the fence. Sometimes you gotta do what daddy tells you and… don't fight me on it." Punk nodded.

"I wasn't fighting with you, daddy." Kaia shook her head, "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, baby." Punk smiled, "What book are we reading tonight?" He asked her, walking over to her book corner as she looked over.

Meanwhile AJ had walked into the living room. She heard Punk go upstairs and assumed the girls were both away to bed, however she found Marty sitting on the couch with her arms folded.

"Excuse me, madam." AJ said as Marty turned around, "What are you doing?"

"You have to take me to bed, mommy." Marty nodded.

"I do?" AJ questioned, "I thought daddy was taking you."

"No. I want you to take me." Marty said as AJ shook her head.

"Daddy will take you." AJ said, "And I think maybe you should apologise to him. You really upset him."

"He upset me." Marty bit back.

"No, he just wanted you to move over a little from the fence, and you used that word that we don't ever use." AJ said, "You were wrong for that." She nodded as Marty looked down, "So you apologise to your father when he comes back down, ok?"

"But I-"

"Hey." AJ shook her head as Marty looked up, "You apologise, ok?" AJ nodded as Marty huffed.

"He should apologise to me." Marty said.

"No, he shouldn't." AJ shook her head, "You really upset daddy." She said, walking over to her, crouching down in front of her at the couch as Marty looked at her, "Do you know how lucky you are to have a daddy as great as yours?" She asked as Marty looked across at her, "You're so lucky. And you hurt daddy's feelings today. And let me ask you this… when someone hurts your feelings… or your upset… who makes you feel all better?" AJ asked her as Marty sighed.

"My daddy." She said quietly.

"Yeah, exactly." AJ nodded, "You have to apologise for what you said to him, ok? We don't speak to people like that, especially not daddy."

"Hey, someone doesn't want me to take them to bed." Punk walked into the living room, looking over at AJ, "So, you're on duty."

"No, daddy. You can take me." Marty said quietly, hopping off from the couch and taking his hand as Punk looked over at AJ who smiled.

"Ok." Punk said suspiciously, "Let's go then." He nodded, leaving the living room and walking upstairs with Marty who was pretty quiet, "You done your teeth?" Punk asked her.

"Yes after my bath I did." Marty said, running into her room and jumping onto her bed as Punk watched her.

"Ok." Punk nodded.

"Daddy, I'm sorry for upsetting you." She frowned, sitting on her bed as Punk walked over, sitting down on the edge beside her, "I shouldn't have said that bad hate word." She realised as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, that really made me upset." Punk nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Marty sighed, "Because you're the best daddy in the whole world and I don't hate you." She made clear as Punk smiled.

"Well thanks, that makes me feel a lot better." Punk smiled. He knew she didn't mean it anyway, but they still wanted her to know that it was never ok to say that. She was just a little kid playing up and he totally understood that.

"Are you still upset?" Marty wondered.

"No, I'm feeling better now." Punk said, "But you need to give me a hug to really top off the apology." He said as Marty jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly as Punk smiled. There was no sweeter feeling than the hugs from his babies

"I love daddy hugs." Marty smiled as Punk laughed a little, hugging her back and kissing her cheek.

"Ok, it's time for bed now." Punk smiled.

"Ok." Marty said, getting under her covers, "Daddy I love you, I'll never hate you." She made clear as Punk smiled and nodded.

"I love you too, angel." Punk smiled, leaning down and kissing her head sweetly as Marty smiled and curled onto her side, "See you in the morning." He said, getting up from the bed and leaving the room, closing the door over and heading back downstairs.

"Did she apologise?" AJ asked, sitting in the living room as Punk joined her.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, she apologised." He said as AJ nodded, "I mean… they don't even know the meaning of words really." He shrugged.

"I know but… they need to know they can't speak like that." AJ said as Punk nodded, "I'm just glad I didn't get the first hate you." AJ teased with a smile.

"Hey." Punk nudged her as she smiled, "You know what?"

"What?" AJ hummed.

"Today got me thinking… three kids…" He took a deep breath as AJ turned to him, "You think we can do it?" He asked her.

"Do you?" AJ asked suspiciously.

"Well… it just seems so much more." Punk said, "Like when we have to take the girls shopping for something. I'll go with one and you'll go with the other. Or when I'm crossing the road with them. One takes one hand and the other takes the other." Punk said, "It's like the perfect balance." He said as AJ looked at him.

"You don't want another baby, do you?" AJ rested her head back on the couch.

"I'm not saying that." Punk shook his head.

"You don't have to." AJ scoffed, "I hear what you're saying."

"No… I'm just saying, maybe now isn't the right time." He nodded, "Maybe we let the girls grow up a little first. Maybe when they're both going to school and they're a little older-"

"Don't you want them all to be close in age?" AJ shook her head.

"Does it matter that much? It's just a couple years." Punk shrugged as AJ looked at him, "Look, I have no problem having another baby, I want another baby, but… I just think maybe we have some us time first, and we let Marty and Kaia grow up a little. So we can enjoy having another baby all the more-"

"Yeah, ok. Fine." AJ nodded as Punk looked at her.

"Please don't be mad with me over this." Punk shook his head.

"I'm not mad." AJ shrugged.

* * *

"She's mad that I wanna wait a couple years before we have another kid." Punk said, sitting behind his desk in his office whilst Dean had walked in with coffee for them.

"Well why did you tell her that you wanted to have one now?" Dean asked.

"Because… well it was a good idea and then I thought about it." Punk said, "I want time for us. Me and April. And the girls are really needy and I don't know if having a baby is gonna help them out. I mean I got my first hate you last night from Marty." He rolled his eyes.

"Ouch." Dean cringed, "What'd you do?"

"Well… nothing, she just got all moody and sassy." Punk shrugged, "But I want them to grow up a little first, make sure they're both in school before we have another one."

"And did you tell her all of this?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I did but she was doing that annoying thing where she pretends that she's fine and really she wants to object to it all." Punk said.

"Well I don't think you've done anything wrong. I'm sure it's common for couple to want kids at different times. You'll work it out."

"Yeah, hopefully." Punk said, "Plus, I'm not long doing this job and I really wanna give it my all, you know?"

"Yeah, of course. April will understand that." Dean said.

"I know she really wants a baby, though." Punk sighed to himself.

"Hey, it's not a bad thing that you wanna wait because you want to spend more time with her." Dean said, "She'll come around I'm sure."

"Maybe we should just have one." Punk nodded.

"Hey, no… because it's not what you want." Dean shook his head, "So you'd be lying to her and yourself."

"I know." Punk said, "I just don't want her to be upset or anything. I'd hate to make her upset over this. And we got this stupid dance thing next weekend and… she'll be all mad and I-"

"Sometimes I wish I was married." Dean nodded to himself, "Today, not so much." He realised as Punk nodded and sighed, "Look, she's gonna respect you even more if you tell the truth instead of going through with it when it's not what you want right now-"

"But isn't it selfish on my part?" Punk asked.

"Wouldn't it be selfish on hers if you just went with what she wanted?" Dean asked.

"Well that's why it's so annoying." Punk shook his head.

"Well you gotta talk and come to an agreement of some sort." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I'll talk to her when I get home." He said as Dean nodded.

"Ok, I'm off out. Enjoy your conference call." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"Hope I'm not on it for six hours like the last time." Punk rolled his eyes.

"You have fun with that." Dean chuckled, leaving the office and closing the door over.


	64. Baby Fever

**Baby Fever**

* * *

"_Oh God, oh God…" AJ moaned, leaning over the hospital bed as Punk stood behind rubbing her back, "Why is this taking so long?" She cried, "Is it trying to hurt me?" She wondered, leaning her forehead on the bottom of the bed as Punk rubbed her back._

"_No, of course not." He said softly. _

"_Rubbing my shoulder isn't helping. The baby is going down the way not up." She hissed, "Rub my ass if you wanna be helpful." She told him as Punk raised his eyebrows._

"_Sure." He said, rubbing her ass and hip area._

"_Oh, yeah. That works. That's good." AJ nodded, "Yeah, right there."_

"_April, I got you some ice chips but-" Seth walked back into the room, pausing as he watched his brother massaging his best friend's butt._

"_Well don't just stand there. Give me them." AJ snapped as Seth walked over, giving her the cup._

"_Isn't this the wrong time to be… you know, doing that." Seth said as Punk and AJ looked at him._

"_What the hell do you think I'm trying to do here?" Punk questioned as Seth walked over, whispering in his ear as Punk rolled his eyes, "A baby is coming out of her right now." Punk reminded him, "Her back… area is sore." He said._

"_Oh." Seth nodded, "Oh, ok. That… that makes more sense."_

"_Seth, you know… I… I think you can just wait outside now." AJ nodded, "You… you don't have to see this."_

"_No… no, I wanna see it. I promise I'll stop talking." Seth nodded, "What can I do to help?"_

"_Just… just stay quiet and sit down." AJ shook her head as Seth nodded, sitting down on the chair beside the bed whilst AJ stood up straight, turning into Punk and leaning her forehead on his chest._

"_You wanna get back into bed?" Punk asked her, rubbing her arms._

"_I don't know what to do with myself." AJ admitted truthfully as Punk nodded._

"_April." Janus, AJ's OB walked into the room as AJ turned around, "How are we doing?" She asked._

"_We're doing nothing." AJ said with frustration, "Nothing is happening. I'm tired!" AJ yelled as Seth cringed, "And my ass hurts. And my mouth is going numb because of all the damn ice chips I'm eating." She yelled angrily as Punk smiled softly to Janus, hoping she would understand that she'd just caught AJ at a bad time._

"_Ok, why don't we get you back in bed and we'll take a look and see how things are progressing?" Janus smiled._

"_Oh, well I suppose we will." AJ said with attitude as Punk scratched the back of his neck, helping her around the bed, "I can walk, I can walk." She shoo'd him away with her hands as Punk stepped back a little immediately._

"_Ok, get comfy." Janus smiled as AJ got into the bed, looking over at her with confusion, "Well… as comfy as you can be." She said as AJ rolled her eyes._

"_Just tell me I'm fully dilated. Please, please, please." AJ sighed as Janus checked._

"_No, honey. You're just four centimetres." Janus sighed as AJ rolled her head back on the pillow, "Things are just going very slowly."_

"_You don't say." AJ replied. _

"_Oh, and… also, just a slight change of plan. Your doctor who is supposed to be delivering the baby, Doctor Forest, she's out of town right now so it'll be the on call doctor-"_

"_Oh, fantastic!" AJ threw her hands up in the air as Seth widened his eyes, "I tell you what, how about I just catch the baby with my own two hands, I don't need a doctor." AJ nodded._

"_Ok, April." Punk took AJ's hand, trying to get her to calm down._

"_Don't you touch me." AJ warned him, "You've done enough." She scoffed as Punk looked down at the ground._

"_I can assure you the on call doctor is great, you'll be fine." Janus smiled._

"_Well it better not be one of those trainee doctors. I'd like someone who has actually hit puberty to deliver my baby." AJ nodded as Punk looked up at Janus._

"_It's too late for me but… you can save yourself." He nodded to her as Janus just smiled._

"_I'll be back soon." Janus nodded, "Just hang in there."_

"_Oh, I will." AJ faked a smile, watching as Janus left the room, "I've always hated her." She turned to Punk._

"_You like her." Punk corrected._

"_I just want to have this baby. It's been hours. I'm sweaty and I'm… I'm so tired." AJ sighed, starting to feel sorry for herself as Punk nodded._

"_Do you want me to sing?" Seth asked as AJ turned to him slowly. _

"_No." AJ said, trying to be as calm as possible, "I do not want you to sing." _

"_Ok." Seth shrugged, "So how come Kaia came so quickly but this one is taking it's time?" He asked._

"_I don't know because it hates my guts and wants me to suffer." AJ shrugged, "I bet it's a boy."_

"_How can you think that?" Punk shook his head._

"_Because boys are lazy and no good… I rest my case." She pointed to her stomach, "Oh, Phil we're having a boy." AJ realised as Punk shook his head._

"_You don't know that." Punk nodded. _

"_I do. I feel it." AJ said, "It's gonna be a mini you." She smiled, suddenly beginning to cry._

"_What? What is it now?" Punk shook his head._

"_No, I just… I remember seeing your baby pictures and… and you were really ugly as a baby." AJ placed her hand on her chest as Punk leaned back on the chair._

"_Well thanks." Punk nodded._

"_She's got a point." Seth added, "You had a big ass forehead. And big ears." He nodded, "You were like the BFG." He nodded as AJ chuckled._

"_Yes, yes he was exactly like that." AJ nodded in agreement as Punk just nodded along, "But hey, it's ok. You grew into them." AJ assured Punk who just rolled his eyes, "Phil, I'm having another contraction." AJ sat up suddenly, holding her stomach as Punk stood up and sat on the bed beside her, wrapping his arm around her, "When will this end?" She groaned._

* * *

"_Keep going, keep going…" Punk nodded, brushing AJ's hair from her face as he held her up whilst she gave birth. Many hours later, she had finally been taken to delivery and was soaring through the birth._

"_Good job, April." The on call doctor smiled as AJ rested her head back on the pillow._

"_Ok, I think I need to push again." AJ nodded, not getting a second to sit back._

"_Ok, deep breath and push." The doctor nodded as AJ gripped Punk's hand. He could tell the tighter she was squeezing, the harder she was pushing, and he could only watch in awe as his wife gave birth. It was the most powerful thing he had laid eyes on, and his wife was a true superhero. He knew it for sure._

"_Ok, that's it, April… that's it, we got a baby." The doctor smiled as AJ raised her eyebrows, looking on as the doctor held the newborn baby up, "It's a girl." The doctor nodded as Punk smiled._

"_Oh." AJ cried, watching the doctor place the baby girl onto her chest as she cried some more._

"_Oh my God." Punk laughed, tears in his eyes as he looked on at the crying baby girl._

"_It's a she." AJ cried, "It's another me." She said joyfully as Punk laughed a little as did the nurses in the room helping, "Look at her hair." AJ cried as Punk smiled._

"_She's perfect." Punk shook his head, leaning down and looking at the crying baby._

"_She is." AJ nodded, holding her close against her skin as Punk smiled, kissing AJ on the cheek._

"_Ok, dad… come cut the cord." The doctor nodded as AJ smiled to Punk._

_Punk cut the cord whilst AJ held their new baby daughter close, taking in every second of this beautiful moment. Feeling the little person she'd grew in her stomach for nine months against her skin was surreal and so overwhelming._

_The doctor eventually took the baby girl to get cleaned up, returning the baby girl to AJ wrapped in a pink blanket._

"_Do we have a name?" The doctor smiled, putting the baby in AJ's waiting arms whilst Punk sat beside her._

"_Yeah." AJ smiled, "Martine." She whispered, "But we're gonna call her Marty."_

"_Beautiful." The doctor smiled, wandering away and letting them have some time alone._

"_Hey, you." Punk whispered, stroking her cheek softly._

"_Look at her hair." AJ shook her head, "There's so much." She laughed a little as Punk nodded._

"_I know, I'm gonna have fun with that." Punk said as AJ smiled, "She's beautiful." Punk shook his head with awe. He never thought feelings like these were possible. To look at something and realise they meant more to him than life itself. He made more promises to himself that he'd do all he could to protect this little one, and catch her when she fell._

"_You know… I think she has your ears." AJ realised as Punk scoffed._

"_BFG the second." Punk figured as AJ laughed to herself._

"_No, she's beautiful." AJ smiled, "I can't believe she's finally here." She shook her head._

"_I know." Punk smiled, "You did amazing." He said as she looked up at him with a smile, "I'm so glad we're making girls. Women are amazing." He nodded as AJ smiled, "You're amazing."_

"_I love you." AJ nodded as Punk smiled._

"_I love you." He smiled, leaning down and kissing her softly whilst baby Marty made soft newborn noises as AJ held her._

"_You wanna hold?" AJ smiled, pulling back from the kiss as Punk nodded._

_He scooped Marty into his arms, sitting beside AJ as she looked on at the little angel in his arms, "Hey, baby girl." Punk hummed, looking down at her with so much love, "It's so nice to finally meet you." He nodded as AJ smiled, leaning against Punk's arm as she watched, "Wow, you're just like mommy." He realised._

"_You think?" AJ smiled._

"_Oh, yeah. All you." Punk smiled, "Just like Kaia. So beautiful." He shook his head as AJ smiled._

"_She's amazing." AJ smiled as Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, she is." Punk agreed in awe as he looked at Marty. It was one of the best days of his life, next to his other daughter's birth and his wedding day. It wasn't like any other love. It was instant, unconditional love. He knew he would do anything for this little person. Anything to protect her and keep her safe, "I love her so much." He shook his head as AJ nodded._

"_I love her too." AJ said, drying her tears and smiling. It was the best feeling in the world, and she was so glad they could meet their second baby girl, who she couldn't possibly describe the amount of love they had for. _


	65. Talk It Out

**Talk It Out**

* * *

"Stupid flowers." AJ snapped, throwing the bouquet of flowers into the trash in the staff room as Eve looked over with confusion.

"I… I thought they were nice." Eve shrugged, both of them on their lunch break.

"No, they were ugly." AJ shook her head, smacking the trash and walking back to the table whilst Eve ate her sandwich.

"Why is Phil sending you flowers? And… most importantly, why are you putting them in the trash?" Eve asked as AJ sat down at the table, folding her arms and huffing to herself.

"Because he feels guilty." AJ assumed.

"What'd he do?" Eve asked.

"Well, apparently he doesn't want another baby anymore." AJ shrugged.

"What? Like ever?" Eve asked.

"No, well… he said in a few hours." AJ said, "But how do I know that he's not just saying that in hope that I'll forget about it or I'll change my mind. What if he really doesn't want anymore kids?"

"Well what did he say to you when he told you he wanted to wait?" Eve asked.

"He said that he wanted more time for us." AJ shrugged, "And that we should let the girls grow up a little, make sure they're both in school. I mean they have sort of been playing up a little, I can see why he got spooked but… we can handle it-"

"Well it's not such a bad thing for him to say he wants to spend more time with you." Eve said, "Maybe he thinks he doesn't get to see you enough or spend enough time with you, and another baby sure as hell won't help that." Eve said, "Maybe he's got a point."

"Eve." AJ whined, "Whose side are you on here?"

"Yours. I'm always on yours." Eve promised, "But… I do see his point. I mean, you guys have had a pretty stressful year. So much has happened. And I know you guys are doing good now but… is it so bad for him to want more you time? I'd take that as a compliment."

"That man gets enough April time." AJ scoffed, sighing to herself as she realised she may have been a little harsh. It was sweet to hear that her husband wanted to spend more time with her, but she was also in the mindset of having another baby.

"And in a couple years you can have a baby and guess what? It'll be even more exciting because the girls we be more grown up." Eve said, "It won't seem so chaotic." She said as AJ sighed, "You know Phil has your best interest at heart."

"I'm just scared that he really just doesn't want another one." AJ said, "I mean how do you come to an agreement on that? If one wants a baby and the other doesn't?"

"Phil wouldn't lie to you. If he straight up didn't want more kids, he would tell you that and he would have told you it the minute he thought about it. I understand why he would want to wait." Eve said, "It won't be so bad. You guys could go on some mini vacations, maybe decorate the house up, go back to having date nights… I bet you lost them a long time ago."

"Yeah, I guess so." AJ nodded, "You really think that's how he feels? He just wants to wait?"

"Oh, for sure." Eve nodded, "C'mon, it's Phil. He's annoyingly honest with everything."

"That's true." AJ nodded, "I really wanted to have a baby." She frowned.

"I know." Eve said, "But it'll be all the more worth it in a few years. You'll be even more ready." She nodded.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." AJ nodded, "The girls are a handful right now. I think it's just the age they're at." She said.

"Just talk to him about it when you get home." Eve nodded.

* * *

"Hey." AJ smiled, walking into the kitchen after getting home from her shift. Some days she got home later than Punk, which meant he was on dinner and bath time duty.

"Hi, mommy." Marty smiled.

"Hi." Kaia added in.

"Hey, babies." AJ smiled, leaning down between them and giving them tight squeezes, "Where is daddy?" She asked them, not seeing him in the kitchen.

"He's upstairs tidying up after our bath because we splashed." Kaia told her.

"I see." AJ smiled, "How was dinner? What'd daddy make?" She asked, looking over the stove to see what she was having for her dinner.

"He made burgers." Marty said.

"Were they good?" She asked them as they both nodded right away, "How was school?" She asked Kaia, taking her coat off and hanging it up in the cupboard.

"School was fine." Kaia said.

"And how was Uncle Seth's?" AJ asked Marty who had spent the day with Seth and Becky.

"Good. He took me to the park and for some ice-cream." Marty said.

"Sounds good." AJ nodded, "Another half hour and then it's time for bed, ok?" She told them both as they nodded, "I'll be back." She told them.

She left the kitchen and headed upstairs tiredly, reaching the top and wandering into their bedroom where she saw Punk in the bathroom, drying the floor with a towel.

"Messy one?" AJ asked, watching Punk jump, hitting his head off the sink and groaning, "Oh, sorry." AJ laughed a little, walking over to him as he held his head.

"That hurt." Punk rubbed his head.

"Sorry, baby." AJ frowned, kissing his head and hugging him from behind, "You need help?" She asked him.

"No, I'm good. That's me done." He said, getting to his feet and throwing the towel in the wash basket, "Hey." He turned to her as she smiled.

"Hey." AJ smiled, "How was your day?" She asked him as they walked back into the bedroom.

"Yeah, it was fine." Punk said, "What about you?" He asked her as she kicked her shoes off.

"Yeah it was ok." AJ said, "Hey can we… can we talk after the girls go to bed?"

"Are you ok?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanna talk." She told him as he nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Punk said, "I'll go sort the girls." He told her.

"I'm gonna take a shower." She nodded. There was a little tension in the air, they could both feel it, but it wasn't a hostile or uncomfortable feeling, it was just very clear that they needed to clear the air.

AJ went for her shower whilst Punk took the girls to bed. She got out in time to say goodnight to them, eventually headed downstairs with Punk into the kitchen.

"You want coffee?" Punk asked her.

"I'm ok. I've drank so much today." AJ shook her head, reheating her leftovers for dinner as Punk nodded, making himself some coffee, "The girls ok?"

"Yeah, they were fine." Punk nodded, "You like the flowers I sent?" He smiled as AJ cringed a little and took a seat at the table.

"Well I did… I… I do have a confession, though." She said as Punk sat down across from her, "I put them in the trash."

"Oh." Punk nodded slowly, "Ok." He said slowly, not knowing what to say.

"Well I was mad. I just… it hurt to hear you say that you didn't want another baby right now." She nodded, "And then when you sent the flowers I realised you obviously knew what you'd said had upset me and… that made me angrier." She admitted as Punk nodded.

"Ape, I'm sorry. You know I shouldn't have agreed to it and then changed my mind. That's not fair on you." Punk said.

"No, that is fair. You're allowed to have an opinion. It's not just my way or the… highway." She said, "That was lame." She realised as Punk nodded, "My point is… I talked to Eve and I understand why you wanna wait."

"You do?" Punk asked with surprise.

"Yeah. I mean, should I be so mad that my husband wants to spend more time with me?" AJ laughed, "I can't be mad at that." She shook her head as Punk smiled, "And we've had a rough year. It's been horrible. I think we just need to chill out for a while." She nodded.

"You're not just saying that because you think it's what I wanna hear?" Punk said.

"No, I'm serious. I talked to Eve about it." AJ nodded, "I do want a baby right now, yeah. But I can also handle waiting a couple years." She assured him, "Honestly, ever since the miscarriage I just… I feel like it's something I need to do, like we owe it to ourselves… the guilt is still there." She realised.

"April-"

"No, I know you said it's not my fault and I know it wasn't but… how I feel is how I feel." AJ said, "And I thought maybe if we had a baby, I wouldn't feel so guilty." She nodded, "The girls are handful right now, and we have Marty to think about going into school next year, I think that could be difficult-"

"Oh, for sure. She's the devil, I'm sure of it." Punk teased as AJ smiled.

"Another baby might just be the chaos that we really don't need right now." AJ figured, "But I want you to be honest with me, do you not want a baby right now…. Or do you not want another baby… ever?" AJ asked him, "I need to know that."

"Hey, I want another kid with you." Punk assured her, "That's not the problem. That'll never be the problem." He said, "I want that feeling again where… I get to hold my baby for the first time and… and have that moment where I realise that I'd do anything for it, and realise that this little person is the most important thing in my life." He said, "I want that with you again, trust me." He said as she smiled, "But in a couple years."

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Yeah, I guess it makes sense. Gives us more time to save money too."

"Yeah, there's that." Punk nodded, "And I wanna spend more time with you. I love our kids, I love our life with our kids but… another one means more attention on them and… less attention on you." He said, "And I'm not down for that just yet."

"No, we can't have that." AJ smiled a little, "Do you really feel like you don't see enough of me?" AJ asked him.

"It's 8pm and this is the first I'm seeing you all day." Punk said, "What do you think?"

"Yeah, good point." AJ nodded, "Maybe we need a child-free vacation." She smiled.

"I like the idea of that." Punk said as AJ smiled, "You're really ok about this? I hate that we both want different things, I feel kinda selfish-"

"No, you're right." AJ said, "We do need some us time, and the girls are getting to those ages where they are needing our attention. They're joining little clubs, they need help with homework, school run, all that fun stuff… I want our attention to be on that too." AJ nodded.

"So… you're not mad with me?" Punk asked.

"No. I shouldn't have been mad anyway." AJ said, "I just… I guess it just goes back to the guilt and everything that happened with the miscarriage."

"None of that was your fault." Punk said, "It was an accident and it was… it was horrible that we had lose that, and everything you had to go through with it." He sighed as AJ nodded, "But we'll have another baby, and it's gonna be so good when we do, and so worth the wait." He said as AJ nodded and smiled.

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "Well… if you want more us time, you're gonna have to clear more of your schedule, captain." AJ winked as Punk laughed a little.

"Yeah, I can figure something out with that." Punk said, "You know you can always talk to me about… about the miscarriage, about anything that's on your mind." He said.

"Of course I do." AJ nodded, "And you can too." She smiled as Punk nodded, "I love you." She said sweetly.

"I love you." Punk replied.

"And I'm sorry about the flowers. You know I have problems." She shrugged as Punk laughed a little and nodded.

"That's ok." Punk smiled


	66. Work Night

**Work Night**

* * *

"Ok, I got my purse, keys, my phone… am I forgetting anything?" AJ asked, walking down the stairs slowly.

"Oh my days." Punk bit his fist as AJ looked at him.

"What?" She laughed.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just the luckiest guy on the planet. Seriously. Billions of people in the world. Me? The luckiest." He nodded as AJ smiled, stepping down the last step.

"Yeah? Well watch this." AJ said, turning a little as he saw the slit in her black dress, exposing some of her leg.

"Oh, dear God." Punk placed his hand on his chest as AJ chuckled, "Seriously… you look… I…"

"Oh, wow. I've broke you." AJ realised, noticing he couldn't find words.

"Beautiful." Punk nodded with a smile, tucking her hair behind her ear as she smiled. She was in the most gorgeous long black dress, fitting to all her curves with a slit at the side. She had a black wrap over her shoulders and her hair was straightened out all the way down her back.

"You look so good too." AJ smiled, fixing his tie a little, "You should wear suits more often." She declared.

"I'll start wearing them to the store." Punk teased as AJ smiled, "God, you're so beautiful." He shook his head with awe as AJ smiled up at him. Without a doubt, only he made her feel like she truly was the only woman in the world.

"Ok, stop… before I take this nice suit off." She patted him on the chest as Punk chuckled, "Ok, where are my babies?" She wandered off into the living room as Punk watched her, not being able to help stare.

"Wow mommy has a dress on." Marty noticed, sitting on the couch in her pyjamas beside her sister. It was almost time for bed and they were watching their kids shows before heading upstairs.

"You look like Ursula." Kaia nodded.

"The fat octopus from The Little Mermaid?" AJ folded her arms unhappily.

"A skinny Ursula." Kaia shrugged.

"I'm not sure how to feel about that." AJ admitted honestly.

"It's because she wears black, mommy." Marty nodded.

"Right." AJ nodded, "Well goodnight, my babies." She leaned down, giving them hugs and kisses, "Be good for Uncle Seth." She told them as Seth stood up.

"They're always good for Uncle Seth." Seth smiled as Punk crept into the living room.

"We gotta get going, babe." Punk nodded, "Goodnight, children." He said, leaning over the side of the couch and kissing them on the head.

"You know…" Seth walked over to Punk and AJ, "This is like that exact scene in Batman where the parents go off out and get shot and never come back." He said as AJ and Punk turned to him, "Or is it Spider-man?"

"You know that voice in your head that tells you not to say things?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah." Seth nodded.

"Use it." Punk advised as Seth shrugged, "And anyway, it's not Batman. The kid is with the parents. The kid is Batman." He said as AJ rolled her eyes.

"The air has been sucked out of this room." AJ nodded, "Let's go." She told Punk, "Seth, make sure they're in bed by 8pm please." AJ said as Seth nodded.

"Yes, boss." Seth nodded, "Enjoy your night." He told them as they eventually left the house.

* * *

"Wow, you're really important." AJ realised, sitting with AJ at their table with some other cops and their partners. She knew her husband's new job position was a lot more important, but she was taken back by how many people had approached him to just shake his hand. It was nice to see, especially when she knew how hard he worked.

"Yeah, it's a little annoying." Punk admitted.

"Why? It's so nice to see." AJ said.

"Well honestly, I'm not out as much as I used to be." Punk said, "I'm not assigned to cases anymore. I just… overlook everything." He said, "I kinda miss being out there on the job." He nodded to her.

"But don't you get to do other cool stuff now?" AJ asked, "Stuff you couldn't do before."

"It's mostly just meetings and conference calls." He said as AJ looked at him.

"Are you not enjoying it?" AJ frowned, rubbing his thigh softly.

"It's not that I'm not enjoying it, I just… I miss being out there. That's what I loved about being a cop." He nodded.

"So why don't you talk to Tony about it? Maybe you can get assigned to some cases as captain?" AJ asked, "I'm sure your experience and knowledge would be helpful on the big cases they have." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, well I was gonna talk to him but he's been in New York all week." Punk said, "I'll talk to him when he gets back." He said, "It's not like I'm unhappy. And I mean… the pay is sweet, and I still get involved with some stuff, I'm just… in an office a lot." He said.

"Not an office man, huh?" AJ smiled.

"No, definitely not." Punk said, "I can barely sit still."

"I know that." AJ smiled, "Well, all you can do is talk to Tony, he'll understand, he's known you long enough." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed.

"Oh my God, Phil?" Lisa from the coffee shop shook her head as Punk turned around as did AJ, "Hey." Lisa chuckled as AJ watched her wrap her arms around Punk, scowling a little as she took her phone out to text Seth, to check in if the girls had gone to bed ok.

"What are you doing here?" Punk asked Lisa who took the vacant seat beside him at their table.

"Oh, I… I have a date." Lisa laughed, "He invited me here."

"Is it Dean?" Punk worried.

"No." Lisa chuckled, "Although I did see him at the free bar." She nodded.

"There's a surprise." Punk said, "This is a bit of an odd place to go for a date." He said.

"Yeah, I know… it's a long story." Lisa nodded, "Everyone is super nice here. And I never even thought about you being here but… of course, you're a cop." She laughed.

"Captain, actually." Punk nodded.

"Oh wow. That sounds important." Lisa smiled as Punk nodded, "So you're one of those people who have to go up and say something soon?"

"Yeah, I gotta say something on behalf of my precinct." Punk nodded as AJ sat her phone back in her purse, looking at her nails, feeling a little out of place, "Oh, Lisa… this is April, you remember her, right?"

"Yeah, med school girl." Lisa nodded, "Hey." She smiled to AJ who just smiled back. Lisa felt the unwelcomed smile and decided she best leave, "Well it was nice seeing you, Phil." She nodded.

"Yeah, you too." Punk nodded, watching as she disappeared, turning to AJ, "Oh, what?" Punk laughed.

"She's friendly." AJ nodded, "Especially for someone you've slept with." AJ said.

"Hey, that was… that was a long, long time ago." Punk said, "She means no harm. She used to hook us up with parties when we were young. You can't possibly feel insecure. Look at you." He smirked as AJ took her drink and took a sip, "You're the most beautiful woman in this room right now. In any room actually." He said, placing his hand on her lap as AJ smiled a little.

"Is that true about you having to go up and… make a speech?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, just a couple of words later." Punk said as AJ nodded, "I know this is super boring for you, it's super boring for me so…"

"Meet me in the bathroom in five minutes." AJ leaned into his ear quietly as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"W-What?" Punk watched her get up from the table and walk off, keeping his eyes on her as she disappeared out the door of the venue as he smirked to himself, looking around with anticipation.

He couldn't wait five minutes, he shot up after one and headed to the bathroom as calm as he possibly could. He made his way to the quieter toilets which he assumed AJ had gone to, knocking on the door of the single toilet and listening to the lock unlocking.

AJ opened the door slowly as Punk looked around the area, quickly moving into the toilet as AJ locked it over behind him and turned around.

"I have a… a speech to make some." He nodded.

"Oh… do you wanna go practise?" AJ asked him, undoing his pants as Punk smirked.

"No I don't wanna practise." Punk said, cupping her face and kissing her passionately, pushing her against the wall as she gasped at the sudden contact. She wasn't a fan of seeing anyone, especially old partners of her husband's, wrap their arms around him. And she had also been in the mood to do this ever since they got to the venue since both of them were bored out of their minds.

AJ pushed him around into the wall, pulling his pants and boxers down and crouching down as Punk rolled his eyes back, feeling her begin to stroke him up and down, using her mouth on him. Having watched her all night in that tight dress was difficult not to be thinking about doing this. Having her with him, watching people's heads turn with her beauty was something he loved to see.

"Fuck." Punk moaned as AJ bobbed her head up and down on him. She placed his hands at the back of her head, staying still with him inside her mouth as he looked down, realising the welcoming she was giving him. He thrusted into her mouth as she placed her hands on his thighs to keep steady.

She felt his length hit the back of her throat as he moved in and out of her mouth, feeling the saliva escape out of her mouth as she eventually backed off for a breath, immediately going back to him and letting him into her mouth again.

She let him use her mouth for as long as she wanted before desiring much more, standing up straight and wiping her mouth as she backed away over to the sink as Punk took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair and watching her.

She pushed her panties down from under her dress as Punk watched them fall onto the ground, watching her step out of them slowly. She then slowly bent over the sink and looked over at him with a smirk.

"I want it so hard." AJ told him, biting her lip as Punk ran his hands over his slicked back hair, making his way over to her and lifting her dress up. The best thing was, he could see her face in the mirror in front of them, and it was a huge turn on.

He ran the tip of his length up and down her slit, "Fuck, you're so wet." Punk moaned, eventually pushing himself inside of her as AJ moaned out, "Shh." Punk put his hand over her mouth as she smiled against it.

"Hard." AJ muffled against his hand as he began thrusting himself back and forth inside her, "Fuck, yes." AJ moaned as Punk gripped her hips, removing his hand from her mouth and taking her by the hips.

"Fuck, baby." Punk groaned, thrusting into her hard and fast as AJ moaned out, looking into the mirror and getting even more turned on, feeling and seeing him pounding into her.

"Just like that." AJ moaned, pushing her hands against the mirror, her entire body rocking as he thrust into her. It was reckless and it was passionate, and it was something only she could give him in moments like these.

He watched her deviously smile whilst he thrusted into her, smirking himself as he looked down at his length disappearing in and out of her.

"Turn around." Punk said, pulling out of her as she turned around, only watching as she pushed him over to the toilet, closing the lid down and pushing him down. She then got on top of him, sinking down on his length and moving up and down on him.

"Fuck, it's so deep." AJ moaned out blissfully, "Fuck." She moaned, looking at him and pressing her lips against his as he gripped her hips and kissed back passionately.

* * *

"Hey, isn't Phil up next?" A cop stood over beside Dean who was standing with his beer at the back of the venue.

"Yeah, apparently. He probably split. These things bore him." Dean said.

"He's really gotta make a speech." The cop nodded to Dean.

"I'll go look for him." Dean said, sitting his beer over and heading out of the venue and into the entrance way to see if he could find Punk.

After searching around, he couldn't find him and returned back to the venue. He listened as they gave Punk an introduction, standing in the silently awkward room as everyone turned around waiting for Punk.

"Phil Brooks?" The host asked again as Dean shook his head.

He then heard commotion coming in the door beside him, watching as Punk stumbled in with AJ at his back, tucking his shirt into his pants and trying to fix his very messy hair.

"You two are disgusting." Dean rolled his eyes as AJ fixed her hair and brushed her hand over her dress.

"Am I up?" Punk asked Dean.

"Yeah, you're up." Dean shrieked.

"Shit." Punk chuckled as AJ smiled, leaning forward and putting her panties in his suit jacket pocket.

"Go, baby." AJ smiled proudly, pushing Punk forward who was still tucking his shirt in, making his way down to the front as everyone watched curiously.

"Where the hell were you?" Dean asked AJ, "In an alley way?" He shook his head.

"No, the bathroom." AJ shrugged as Dean rolled his eyes, "What? It was like a damn funeral in here."

"And that's what you get up to at funerals?" Dean asked as AJ rolled her eyes and shoved him.

"Uh… hi." Punk grabbed the mic, "Hey." He smiled, putting his hand in his pocket as he felt his wife's panties, looking over to her as she winked and blew him a kiss, "Mhm… ok." He tried to find himself control.

"God, it's like watching a car accident in slow motion." Dean shook his head, "And he looks a damn mess… what the hell were you doing to him?"

"Oh, you don't wanna know." AJ smirked as Dean turned to her.

"Really? I like details." Dean nodded as AJ shoved him, looking over at Punk making his speech, eventually finding his words again as she smiled proudly. It was nice to know they still had that undeniable heat, she was sure that would never disappear. She knew it.


	67. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

_2 years later…_

"I just can't stop looking at her." AJ shook her head, looking into the bassinet beside her where their newborn baby girl lay, fast asleep, so petite and perfect. Every ounce of her was adorable. She had the same fuzzy hair as her sisters when they were born, and had her father's green eyes. She was definitely a lot more like Punk than she was AJ, and that was so sweet for them to see.

"So I didn't get my exact mini me, but she's pretty close." Punk nodded, smiling over. He had his hearts set on having a son, but when he saw his third baby daughter being born, it really didn't matter to him, he was just so happy to have another healthy baby.

"I can't believe she looks more like you than me." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"She wanted all my good looks." Punk said as AJ scoffed.

"Hey, April… do you want to try feeding again?" Janus walked into the room.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." AJ nodded, sitting up on the bed as Punk helped her a little. She hadn't long gave birth. Around a few hours ago. It was definitely a lot easier than her birth was Marty. Everything happened pretty quickly and she couldn't believe their baby was finally here.

"Don't worry if it takes her a few times to latch on." Janus nodded, scooping up the baby girl and placing her in AJ's arms who prepared to feed her.

"I don't get it, Kaia and Marty caught on so fast." AJ said, having a little more difficulty this time.

"It's different every time." Janus nodded, "I'll leave you with her and hopefully she catches on. If not, I'll have formula on stand by." She said as AJ nodded.

"Thank you." AJ smiled as Janus left the room, "Why is it taking so long for her?"

"I don't know. She might just take longer to figure it out, that's all." Punk smiled, sitting down on the chair beside the bed.

"Well come on." AJ said softly, looking down at the baby girl, "These got big for you." She told her as Punk chuckled.

"So I text Seth and he's gonna bring the girls in soon." He nodded, "He said they can't wait to meet her."

"Really? Oh, that's sweet." AJ smiled, "Did you text your mom?"

"Yeah, she's coming too." Punk nodded, "I also had to call into the precinct and check up on things too, I sort of just… ran out on everyone as soon as you called and told me your waters had broken." He said as AJ chuckled.

"I'm sure they can all hold the fort for now." AJ smiled.

"Well you'd be surprised." Punk shook his head, "How is she doing?" He looked over.

"She's still not latching on." AJ frowned, "Is it me?" She wondered.

"No, of course it's not you." Punk said, "Just give her a little time. She's so new." He said as AJ smiled.

"And perfect." AJ shook her head.

Even though she had felt ready for another baby for quite some time, she felt like things really fell into the right place at the right time. They had gotten the chance over the past couple of years to enjoy their life again without the reoccurring entrances of old skeletons.

They got to go on vacations. They reintroduced date night every week again. They got to watch their oldest babies move into school life, watching them grow and become their own little people. It had been truly the best. And then they were gifted with another little angel whom they were so happy to welcome into their family.

"You want me to take care?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, she's not gonna latch." AJ figured as Punk nodded, taking the baby girl from AJ, looking down at her in his arms and smiling.

The feeling never changed. Even whilst holding his third child, that feeling of holding her, stroking his finger against her little hand, watching her eyes meet his, it was a feeling he just couldn't describe.

"She's going back to sleep." Punk smiled, watching the baby girl's eyes close over, "Her eyes are so small. And her little fingers." Punk sighed, "These babies really get to me." Punk nodded to AJ who laughed a little and nodded.

"I can see that." AJ smiled as Punk sat down with the baby, "I'm so glad we waited." AJ nodded as Punk looked up at her, "I feel… I feel ready for this, like… really ready. I was desperate to meet her." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, things were feeling too peaceful in our house. She's gonna bring the chaos, I can tell." Punk said as AJ smiled, "Does she have my big ears?" Punk wondered as AJ laughed a little.

"Yeah, but so did Marty." AJ waved her hand as Punk laughed, "She's perfect."

"Yeah, she is." Punk whispered, stroking the baby girl's cheek softly, "Three daughters. This is punishment." He nodded, "This is punishment for me."

"You think?" AJ smiled.

"Oh, yeah. These three are gonna gang up on me. And I have to… I have to give three of my babies away at their weddings. I don't wanna give them away-"

"She's a couple hours old." AJ laughed.

"Well you gotta think about these things." Punk said as AJ smiled, "I wouldn't change any of them for the world." He shook his head as AJ smiled.

"You're a good daddy." AJ smiled, reaching over for his hand as Punk smiled.

"Yeah? Well that's only because you make me a good daddy." He smiled, leaning over and kissing her sweetly as she cupped his cheek softly.

* * *

"Where is my little sister?" Marty pushed open the hospital door an hour later, holding a balloon and a giant teddy bear, leading the line of the family coming into the room.

"She's here." AJ smiled, "And she's finally feeding." AJ said happily as Punk smiled, sitting beside AJ on the bed.

"Oh is that her? Is that her?" Marty dropped everything she was holding and ran over to the bed whilst Kaia followed behind.

"Why is she eating you?" Kaia looked on with confusion.

"She's getting her milk." AJ nodded as Marty and Kaia looked on with confusion.

"But how?" Marty asked, puzzled whilst Seth, Becky and Nadine wandered into the room, laughing a little at the girls confusion.

"That's just how she gets her food." Punk explained as Marty looked into her t-shirt as Punk groaned.

"Is that how I feed her too?" Marty asked, looking into her t-shirt.

"No." Punk said immediately, "No, only mommy can feed her like that. Just… Just mommy." Punk said clearly.

"Oh." Marty realised, "Well good." She said with relief.

"What's her name? What's her name?" Kaia asked excitedly whilst everyone else listened in curiously.

"Amber." AJ smiled as the girls gasped.

"That's pretty." Marty nodded.

"I like that." Kaia agreed as Punk and AJ smiled.

"Well, we're glad you both like it." Punk laughed a little, getting off the bed and giving his mother a hug as well as his brother and sister-in-law, all which expressed their congratulations and were eager to see more of Amber.

"May I hold her please?" Marty asked, "Can I touch her head? Is that all her hair? That's a lot." Marty said, going on and on as Punk smiled. He could sense her excitement just in the tone of her voice.

"You can touch her head just be gentle." AJ nodded, watching Marty stroke Amber's head softly, Kaia joining in too.

"She's just like one of my dollies but real." Marty gasped as AJ smiled.

"Why wasn't it a boy?" Kaia asked as Punk looked over, "I already have one sister. And she's annoying."

"Hey." Marty turned to Kaia.

"Well you are." Eight year old Kaia shrugged as Marty gasped.

"Daddy am I annoying?" Marty asked her father's opinion, the only opinion that mattered.

"No, you're not annoying, babe." Punk shook his head as Marty smiled, "It's great you guys have another sister, you'll all be best friends."

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "And you can play with her, share all your toys-"

"Oh." Marty widened her eyes, "I don't know if she'd like my toys." She shrugged, reluctant to share, "She should just get her own toys." Marty suggested as Punk laughed to himself and nodded.

"Yeah, maybe." Punk said.

"Phil, do you want to take her and wind her. She's not taking any more." AJ said as Punk nodded, scooping up Amber from AJ's arms and rubbing her little back softly whilst Nadine and Seth gathered around to get a closer look.

"Oh, wow… Phil, she looks so like you." Nadine noticed, "And all that hair." She said, turning to mush as she looked at the fuzzy little hair sticking up.

"Yeah, she's got a lot of it." Punk nodded, rubbing Amber's back softly as they looked on at the baby girl.

"She's adorable." Seth smiled, wrapping his arm around Becky.

"You getting that fever yet?" Punk smiled to them both as they just laughed nervously as Punk smiled, enjoying making them feel uncomfortable of course.

"Mommy." Marty held her mother's hand sweetly, standing by her bed.

"What, baby?" AJ smiled.

"What flavours of milk do you have in there?" Marty wondered as Punk turned around.

"What?" AJ laughed.

"Like is there chocolate milk?" Marty asked.

"Oh, or strawberry?" Kaia asked as Punk chuckled to himself, watching as AJ smiled over to him.

"It's just normal milk." AJ nodded to them.

"Boring." Marty hummed as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, I think so too." AJ said, "How was school? Did you tell everyone mommy was having a baby?"

"I did, yes." Marty nodded, "None of my friends have any baby sisters or brothers." She said, "I'm the first." She said with a smirk.

"I didn't tell anyone." Kaia shrugged.

"Why not?" AJ laughed a little.

"Don't know. Forgot." Kaia said as AJ nodded.

"Fair enough." AJ laughed, looking over as Nadine was getting a hold of Amber, "You guys wanna hold her after Nini?" She asked them.

"Yes, I do. Me first." Marty said, jumping up onto the chair beside the bed and practising holding her arms out as AJ smiled.

Punk eventually took Amber around to the girls, placing her into Marty's arms, making sure she was holding her properly and being very careful with her.

"She's cute, huh?" Punk smiled, crouching down in front of them as Kaia sat beside Marty.

"I'm holding my sister." Marty smiled to them all happily as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, you are." Punk nodded with a smile whilst Nadine snapped pictures from every angle, "You love her?" He asked as Marty nodded, sniffling as Kaia turned to her.

"Are you crying?" Kaia wondered as AJ and Punk looked at Marty.

"She's so small." Marty cried as AJ placed her hand on her heart.

"She is." Punk smiled, drying Marty's tears for her, "She's so lucky to have you guys as her big sisters." He said as Marty nodded, turning around to AJ who was also getting emotional, smiling to himself.

"She has big ears." Kaia realised as AJ chuckled a little.

"She'll grow into them, don't worry." Punk nodded as Nadine and Seth laughed a little. Seeing the genuine loving welcome their baby girl was getting from the family was so nice to see. Especially from her big sisters.

* * *

"It is sort of depressing that there is no chocolate milk option." AJ admitted later that night, feeding Amber as Punk sat on the chair beside. Everyone had gone home, even though the girls wanted to stay some more.

"Yeah, that would be pretty cool." Punk said as AJ smiled, feeling content feeding her baby girl, "I don't think I've ever saw Marty cry happy tears before."

"I know. That was so sweet." AJ said as Punk nodded, "It got me."

"Yeah, it got me." Punk laughed.

"Did you see all of that, baby?" AJ whispered to Amber, "Everyone loves you."

"Yeah, she's lucky." Punk smiled as AJ nodded, "How you feeling?" He asked her.

"I'm tired." AJ nodded, "But… I'm so good." She smiled, looking down at Amber as Punk smiled, "I'm so glad that a serial killer targeted me." She nodded as Punk laughed a little.

"Not something you hear every day." Punk said.

"No, I'm serious." AJ nodded, "Otherwise… maybe we wouldn't have gotten to know one another the way we did. And then I… I wouldn't have got my babies, and… man, I love them." AJ shook her head, it was indescribable love.

"Didn't we say that we would have found our way together somehow?" Punk smiled.

"Maybe we would have." AJ said, "But… I like the way it worked out." She nodded as Punk smiled.

"Yeah, me too." Punk whispered, "I'm just glad that I can say I got to do all of this stuff… not just with my wife but with… with my best friend." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"I love you so much." AJ said as Punk smiled.

"I love you too." He leaned forward, kissing her on the lips softly as she kissed back, pulling back and smiling to one another with genuine happiness, "And I love you." He looked down at Amber, "Little mini me." He took her hand, feeling it grab onto his finger as they both smiled.

"I think you two are gonna get along pretty well." AJ nodded as Punk smiled.

"Yeah, I think so." Punk agreed with a smile.

Things were pretty perfect, but the most important thing was, what got them there was the imperfections, the tears, the blood and the anger. It always made them stronger. It gave them more to fight for, and this was always worth fighting for.

* * *

**A/N: That's a wrap! Thanks for those who still read and review, this was so fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for something new I'll be cooking up soon. Thanks again.**


End file.
